The Avenging Spartan
by Angry lil' elf
Summary: The Chief, Arbiter, Johnson, Miranda, Cortana and a Forerunner AI end up in the Marvel universe. Rated M for violence, swearing, sex and alot of other things. Harem warning.
1. Chapter 1

The Avenging Spartan

Rating: M15+

Summary: Our favourite super soldier along with an UNSC AI, an Elite, a gung-ho Sgt Major, lieutenant commander and a forerunner AI end up in the Marvel universe and help out the Avengers, X-Men and the Fantastic Four as well as other heroes like Spiderman "And me!" yells he-who-will-not-shut-the-fuck-up, shut up Wade! "But you are going to include me in the story right?" I said I'd think about it Wade so don't jinx your potential inclusion for this story alright? Sorry that was Deadpool; he wants to be in on this story, we're going through negotiations at the moment.

Also regarding pairings for the Chief I've set up a poll showing potential romantic partners for the Chief they are: Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, She-Hulk, Black Cat, Storm, Rachel Grey/Marvel Girl, Warbird/Miss Marvel, Psylocke, X-23, Greer Grant/Tigra, Domino, Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, Lionheart and Scarlet Witch.

X-23 is at 33% with Black Cat at 25%, She-Hulk at 16% and Black Widow, Kitty Pryde and Psylocke tied for fourth so we'll see who else gets voted on the poll, I myself am pushing for Chief being paired up with Black Widow as I think since they are both military people so it could work between them but we'll see how we go.

I may or may not have Chief have a harem depends on my view on it and my writing ability so Freedom Guard or Harbinger of Kaos if you're reading this; a little help please?

On a side note I am combining the films, cartoons and various comics to make this fic such as my Nick Fury being African-American.

Now we begin:

"Gun it Chief!"

Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 or John-117, along with Arbiter Thel Vaddam and UNSC AI Cortana were racing along to the Frigate Forward unto Dawn in a warthog jeep with John driving and Thel taking gunner position.

Dodging the exploding debris John, Thel and Cortana raced towards the Dawn, going at full speed using a ramp to clear the gap between them and Dawn. Landing the warthog heavily and flipping it over, Thel and John fell off the jeep.

Vehicles and other mechanical objects started to fall out of the Dawn, Thel barely managed to dodge a falling scorpion tank as John ducked his head to avoid getting hit from another tank. The frigate slowly made its way to the portal that lead the way back to earth.

John pulled out Cortana's data chip out of his helmet and placed the chip into the Dawn's data system. Just as he did that a rumbling hit the ship and the portals outline changed colour, "Cortana what's happening?" John asked "Something seems to be wrong with the slipspace portal, its changing course and it's not leading back to our galaxy" Cortana said, Thel ran over to John's side and asked "Spartan, what is happening?" John answered "The slipspace portal is changing course and it's not heading back to our galaxy" Thel cursed just as the ship entered the portal.

Light blinded John and Thel, when the light subsided Thel and John saw that they weren't in Kansas anymore ("Oh come on! Wizard of Oz puns? Did you really have to put them in?" Shut it Wade!) "Cortana where are we?" John asked Cortana replied "Unknown, I'll send a few Clarions to check it out they'll be back in a few minutes."

_A few minutes later_

"Chief, Arbiter, you might wanna see this"

"What have you got for us Cortana?" John asked as he and the Arbiter walked onto the bridge, "You won't believe it when I tell you but I think we've come across a Forerunner civilisation" Cortana said and she started bringing up images of beautiful graceful structures.

Thel asked "Are there any signs of life down there?" Cortana replied "None whatsoever and no sign of the Flood a find like this would be a wealth of information, hold on the scanners are picking something up" she said. What looked like a massive sheathed sword with a red eye at the top floated up to the frigate, it hummed ominously and its eye began to glow as if assessing if the frigate was a threat.

"Cortana, what is that?" John asked "I'm… not sure it doesn't correspond with anything that I have about the Forerunners" Cortana replied. The massive Forerunner machine's eye then released a beam of blue energy. John, Thel and Cortana braced themselves for the worst but to their surprise, the energy didn't harm the ship but only encompassed it in a blue glow.

The Forerunner machine then towed the Dawn down towards the Forerunner city; Thel asked "Where is this machine taking us?" "Not sure, but better be prepared in case something happens" John said as he passed a pair of Covenant energy swords to Thel which Thel accepted and clipped to his armour.

Passing the massive Forerunner skyscrapers towards what looked like a massive shipping dock; the Forerunner machine towing the Dawn then parked the Dawn near the landing bay before releasing it and floated off.

John yanked out Cortana's data chip and slotted it in his helmet and said to the Arbiter "Time to see what this place really is" the sangheilian warrior nodded and grabbed a Covenant carbine and followed John out.

Opening the Dawn's hangar bay to the outside, John readied his MA5C in case there were was a 'warm' welcome as Thel readied his carbine. To their surprise there were was only what looked like a Forerunner Monitor like Spark and some Huragok or Engineers as they were commonly known. The Monitor moved towards the Spartan and the Arbiter and said in a calm pleasant female voice "Greetings, I am Forerunner Contender Class AI 679 Unyielding Courage and I am the monitor and guardian of this Forerunner city"

"I am Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117" John replied unsure how to deal with this Spark look-a-like, Thel gave his greeting "I am Arbiter Thel Vaddam of the Separatists" "Very pleased to meet you" the Monitor said cheerfully and then asked as if noticing the tenseness of the two warriors "Is there something wrong? Have I done something to offend you both?" Thel then said "Forgive us but the last Forerunner AI we've dealt with tried to kill us" "Oh. Please explain and I shall endeavour to understand your uneasiness" Courage said.

John launched into an explanation of Guilty Spark's actions at the Ark when he was done explaining, Courage said in a remorseful tone "Yes, from what you have told me it seems Spark's actions indicated rampancy regarding his… unhealthy attachment to his installation"

"You're not angry?" John asked "I won't lie, to hear the loss of the Ark is distressing but I have weighed the options as it were & your actions I have deemed necessary to stop the parasite from escaping and Spark's actions spoke of rampancy and thus he needed to be stopped so I do not blame you for what you have done Reclaimer" Courage said

"But you and the Sangheilian are in need of rest and recovery Reclaimer, and your combat skins are badly damaged and need to be repaired and upgraded as does your Construct and ship, so please follow me"

Leading John and Thel inside a building then after taking a long elevator trip, Courage took them to what looked like a medical bay Courage bade John and Thel to remove their armour and Cortana so that the repairs could be commenced.

Once stripped of their armour Courage said "Please lie back on the tables and we shall begin the process" Cortana's voice rang out of the MJLONIR helmet "Process? What kind of process?" she asked, Courage replied in a reassuring voice "Do not worry construct, it is an experimental procedure that shall enhance your two companions with what is called Bio-Engineer nanomites giving them capabilities beyond what they have already"

"Is there a chance of death?" Cortana asked in a worried voice, "No, the procedure was performed on one test subject before the parasite came and it has a hundred percent guarantee of success" Courage replied reassuringly.

"Now lie back please and the medic-drones shall take care of the rest" Courage said, with that said the Forerunner monitor floated, followed behind by some sentinels carrying John and Thel's armour. John lay back on the table as the medic-drones moved forward to him and Thel, one medic-drone then injected something into John's carotid artery and John dozed off into a sleep.

Slowly opening his eyes, John awoke to find himself in a new room in a comfortable bed; Thel was in another bed beside him.

Thel soon awoke as well; both he and John looked around the room and wondered what had happened ever since the procedure. All the wounds John and Thel had accumulated on the Ark were now fully healed and with it came a new discovery; John had found his augmentations had now been improved beyond their usual capabilities and Thel's physiology had been enhanced as well.

Courage had just entered the room and noticed that the two warriors were awake and said "Ah, you are awake, how excellent to see you again" "What do these bio-Engineer nanomites do?" Thel asked Courage answered "The Bio-Engineer nanomites essentially are like normal Engineers for the body and enhance the body beyond its normal capacity; one such ability of the nanomites is an enhanced healing factor, any injuries you acquire will be healed very much instantly though you can will the nanomites to repair injuries at a slower rate"

Courage then added "Also the nanomites take care of any illness or toxin in your body and use the toxins, natural or otherwise as a fuel source for themselves or break the toxins down to help repair the body; the nanomites were designed to rid the body of any Flood infection during the Great War but due to Medicant Bias' betrayal there wasn't enough time to outfit everyone with the nanomites"

John took all the information in with slightly wide eyes and then he asked the Forerunner monitor "Do you know where my armour is? I feel kinda naked without it" he said, Courage replied "Your combat skins are being repaired and upgraded to your construct's specifications and the repairs and upgrades are being supervised by your construct, she is also being repaired and upgraded as well, also your ship is being repaired and upgraded according to your construct's specifications as well."

"Can we see them?" Thel asked "Of course follow me" Courage said. Leading John and Thel down a hallway to a platform with a glowing circle which John recognised as a teleportation device, Courage bade Thel and John to step on the glowing circle. John was initially hesitant about this mode of travel as he remembered the first time he used such a device with Cortana at the controls he ended up on the ceiling and proceeded to land on his head.

John stepped on the circle and in an instant he found himself in a new room where he saw two sets of armour being pieced together with a nearby holotank showing the image of Cortana watching the construction of the two armours.

Another couple flashes of light brought the Arbiter and Courage to the room; Cortana turned and took notice of John in the room.

"Hey John, how was the procedure?"

John shrugged and replied "Slept through most of it what are you working on?" he asked, Cortana replied "A new MJOLNIR according to my 'mother' Dr. Halsey's diary and notes & don't worry split lip I'm making you a new suit of armour too" she said directing her attention to Thel

Thel ignored the insulting nick name given to his race; John then asked "Dr. Halsey had plans for a new MJOLNIR?" Cortana replied "Essentially yes, Dr. Halsey had plans for a mark VII MJOLNIR that was in the planning stages before the Fall of Reach; features were a plasma-fusion hybrid battery system but Courage gave me something even better than that, I'll explain later, other features are atmospheric insertion technology, slipspace technology, active AI transfer protocols and even shield manipulation like making air flaps, walls and even wings but the shield manipulation is limited"

"The energy shields and armour components are of a Forerunner class 18 combat skin but Courage and I have taken it beyond that level to create the new class 19 combat skin which I've dubbed the Mark X MJOLNIR" Cortana said before continuing "There are four-and-a-half layers of energy shielding, the metal is a tungsten-titanium carbide mix and is more streamlined and smoother and tougher but is altered at a chemical and molecular level so that it won't weigh you down and it can resist standard, heavy and advanced ballistics, energy and plasma weaponry, you could take seven direct fuel rod shots and plasma grenades won't do much damage to you. Also gauss rounds and plasma mortar rounds will have a tough time getting through the armour" Cortana said.

Thel nodded approvingly and John said "Nice, anything else?" he asked Cortana smiled and replied "Glad you asked; other goodies I've added are an active stealth module, jet-pack boosters, in-built energy wrist blades, recharge points for any energy or plasma based weaponry, just clip them to your armour and the armour takes care of the rest & a healing module in case your new regenerative ability is out of commission"

Thel asked "So what is this healing module?" Cortana answered "Something I picked up from Forerunner databases here; something I call Bio-Salve" "Bio-Salve?" John queried, Cortana explained "It's comprised of synthetic but completely organic cells that can set bones, mend tissue and organs and seal wounds, all without any adverse effects so it's very much like an advanced version of bio-foam"

John took all the information about his new armour in and remarked dryly "If any other Spartans were here right now, I'd know a couple who would be drooling all over it" Cortana smiled at the remark and bade John and Thel to put their new suits of armour on. After a few minutes both the Spartan and the Arbiter had put on their MJOLNIRs.

Thel's new armour looked like a combination of Elite Spec-Ops armour and Ranger armour while maintaining an ornate look, Thel voiced his approval to Cortana "This is armour is excellent construct. Now what did you say was powering it?" he asked, Cortana replied cheerfully "Believe it or not a miniature star is powering your new armour" John had his helmet on but the UNSC AI could tell that John was shocked by this revelation and Thel had a sangheilian version of shock written across his face.

Along the back, thighs and arms were glowing lines which got the attention of John and he asked what they were, Cortana replied "Those glowing lines on your new armour are what is called Flatspace compartments, similar to Slipspace technology but are used to store weaponry, ammunition and other items, just mentally command them to open and you can basically store anything in there" she said with a smile.

"What about the Dawn?" John asked, Cortana gave a knowing grin and replied "You'll have to see for yourself" pointing out the window. John and Thel looked out the window and what they saw amazed them; the Forward unto Dawn no longer looked like a UNSC Frigate, it now looked like a Forerunner Dreadnought, at least five times the size of what the Dawn was and bristling weaponry from a Super MAC gun, four normal MAC guns, six mass driver turrets, Covenant plasma turrets, sentinel beam turrets and Forerunner torpedo turrets.

Cortana had also requested that Courage manufacture UNSC and Covenant weapons with improvements and modifications, whilst Courage carried this request out, she was surprised that Cortana requested such, what Courage considered weak, weaponry when there were far superior Forerunner weaponry.

Vehicles were manufactured too from Pelican and Albatrosses, Warthogs, Mongooses, Scorpions, Grizzlies and Rhinos, Longsword and Sabre fighters to Covenant vehicles from Ghosts, Banshees, Revenants and Wraiths to Brute Choppers.

Upgrades to Cortana had been massive as she was now the equivalent of a Forerunner Contender class AI and could practically live indefinitely without falling into rampancy. The Dawn had also been given a full garrison of sentinels, military, medical, utility and strato grade, Huragok and Constructors.

Inside the Dawn were assembly factories, refinery systems and scientific labs for all purposes other than combat.

_Later that day_

"John, Arbiter, Courage and I have been working on something that we want to show you" Cortana said to John and Thel, John looked at Cortana quizzically & asked "What have you got for us Cortana?" "It's better if you see for yourself" Cortana replied mysteriously. Leading John and Thel down a few hallways, Cortana brought the Spartan and the Arbiter to a medical room where there were two pods filled with liquid and inside were two figures.

John's eyes behind his helmet now widened with shock at the two figures in the pods; it was Avery Johnson and Miranda Keyes! Thel was just as surprised and said to Cortana in shock "The Sergeant and the Commander, but how? We saw them die at the Ark" Cortana replied "I know that this is all a little shocking, it shocked me too" "How is this possible?" John asked, "The nanomites that are now in you, I found in the Forerunner medical databases could instantly repair fatally injured people and sort of bring them back to life so I made a request to Courage and she went to the Ark and bought them here" Cortana explained.

Courage decided to put in her two cents worth; "When I found your comrades they were both severely damaged, almost beyond repair, so we had to clone them new organs and limbs to replace the damaged ones" she said.

"What interested me most was your companion Johnson's unique condition; there were dormant Flood cells in his body can you please explain it to me" Courage asked, Cortana explained in a nut shell that Johnson had Boren's Syndrome that messed up his nervous system so badly that when he was infected by the Flood, the Flood cells couldn't get a match on his nervous system, rendering him immune to Flood infection and control.

Courage seemed satisfied with Cortana's explanation and said "Very well shall we begin the reanimation process then?" "Chief?" Cortana asked, John silently debated inside his head then made his mind up, "Go ahead" he simply said.

That was the signal to begin the reanimation; Courage then began the process, a few seconds of nothing then a little twitch from Johnson's hand and Miranda's eyes began to flicker open. Courage drained the liquid from the pods and a few more twitches from Johnson and Miranda brought them awake.

The pods opened and Johnson and Miranda stumbled out of them and collapsed on the floor, both breathing heavily and in great gasps; John and Thel went over to the two and held them to keep them from hurting themselves.

"C-chief? H-how?" Johnson said weakly "Easy sergeant, it's gonna be alright" John said reassuringly.

_A few days later_

Miranda and Johnson were brought to the medical ward where both of them were recuperating from the reanimation process; John was sitting on a chair beside their beds.

"Chief, what happened? I remember telling you to send me out with a bang and then I fell asleep and now I've woken up here. Where are we? & what's that fancy new armour you're wearing?" Johnson asked "Relax sergeant you're safe, we're on a Forerunner planet where the Monitor here gave us upgrades and a new ship & brought you back to life" John explained

"But I died" Miranda said tiredly "So how can I be here, alive and breathing?" "You might want to ask Cortana and the Monitor when they come to see you" John replied, at that point Thel came in accompanied by Courage and Cortana.

Johnson noticing Thel said in a light-hearted manner "So you're here too split-lip, how did you get here?" Thel ignored Johnson's jibe and replied "The portal leading back to Earth changed course to this planet and here the Demon and I met Unyielding Courage who has helped us immensely & brought you back to us"

"I see" Miranda said before adding "Well Courage, thank you for bringing me and the sergeant back from the grave, how you did it I'll never know but trust me you have my thanks" "No trouble at all Commander" Courage replied cheerfully.

"So what kind of upgrades did Courage here give us?" Miranda asked

Cortana then launched into an explanation "One goody Courage gave us was Bio-Engineer nanomites that now run through the Chief, Arbiter and through you two as well, one thing that the nanomites have done is enhance you beyond your normal capabilities and another thing they can do is any injury you get will be healed instantly & any illness or foreign disease you get will be purged from your system, such as the Flood cells that were in you Johnson, they've now been removed."

This floored the sergeant and commander as Miranda almost stammered "S-so we're now super soldiers?" she asked "Close to it, but not quite" Cortana said in humour with a smile on her face.

"Courage is working on a set of ODST armours for you and Johnson to wear that'll have similar equipment and functions to John and Thel's armour" Cortana explained, again this floored the commander and the sergeant; Johnson then said jokingly "Might as well call me a SPARTAN now John"

John smirked a little underneath his helmet, SPARTAN indeed.

It was a few weeks before Miranda and Johnson were fully recuperated and back on their feet again, John passed the time training, exercising and sparring with Thel in what looked like a futuristic gym and going out for hikes in the local forests, it was peaceful enough but John was anxious to return to Earth in case the Covenant Loyalists would make a try for Earth and its colonies again.

The day had finally come when Miranda had decided it was time to head back to Earth but there was one last thing that Courage had to give them; leading John and co. down to a computer laboratory, on a plinth was what looked like a Forerunner Monitor like Courage except for a few distinguishing features, for example instead of one eye there were four diamond shaped eyes and the body was circular in shape instead of being a rounded cube like Courage.

"What's with the new light bulb Tinkerbelle?" Johnson asked Courage, Courage replied "Something that I had created in order to serve you as well give any information about my creators and their creations; it is a Contender class AI but there is little chance of it falling into Rampancy for it is what I consider a Dumb AI but it should fulfil your needs"

With that said Courage hovered over to the plinth and gave off a few musical tones, a few lights flashed and sounds of machines vibrated and whirred; the new Forerunner Monitor's eyes then glowed bright blue and the Monitor then floated off the plinth.

Courage then said to the new Monitor "You are Forerunner Monitor 854 Hardened Courage and your primary function is to help the Reclaimers and their companions in whatever they need, do you understand your mission?" The newly dubbed Hardened Courage then said in a pleasant male voice "I understand my mission and shall endeavour to carry it out to the best of my ability."

Hardened Courage the floated off the plinth over to John and co. and gave a cheerful greeting "Greetings, I am Forerunner Monitor 854 Hardened Courage and I am to aid you in whatever you need" Cortana replied to the new Monitor "Thank you I am Cortana and I am the Reclaimers' construct and I'll be working with you if that is alright" the new Courage replied back cheerfully "It will be no trouble at all Cortana"

John turned to Unyielding Courage and said "Thank you for everything that you've done for us" the old Courage replied that it was only her duty to aid the descendants of her creators and bade John and co. to be on their way, though she did warn them that the area around the planet was somewhat unstable for slipspace travel.

_A few hours later_

As the Dawn slowly made its way off planet, John, Thel and Johnson made their way to the bridge where Miranda, Cortana and Hardened Courage were; as they entered the bridge, Cortana noticed them and asked John "Hey John happy to be heading back to Earth?" John replied "Once we get back to Earth, we can deal with the Loyalists and finally end this war"

The others silently agreed on this; as soon as the Frigate was a little way out from the Forerunner planet Miranda gave the order for Cortana to engage the slipspace drive, suddenly a transmission from the Forerunner planet came in "Rec…laimers… y-must be- car-ful… the… slipspace… lane… ays are too un…able" then static as the a rumbling hit the Frigate as the slipspace portal's outline changed into a violent storm and dragged the Frigate in.

"Shit! Cortana disengage the slipspace drive now!" Miranda ordered Cortana immediately disengaged the slipspace drive.

As soon as the slipspace drive was disengaged, Earth came into view but it was different somehow.

"Cortana, is this Earth?" John asked the AI, "Not sure, it looks like it though but Africa was glassed wasn't it? But here it doesn't look like it at all" Cortana said, Miranda gave an order "Cortana, Courage send a few Clarions down there we need to know if this is Earth or not" "You got it" "At once Commander"

_A few hours later_

"Chief, Sergeant, Commander, and Arbiter you may want to see this"

Cortana's voice rang out from the speakers

As John & co. entered the bridge they found Cortana and Courage looking over the information they had collected.

"What have you got for us?" Miranda asked, Cortana turned to look at them and said "Well from what the Clarions have gathered this is Earth but it's not the year 2558" Johnson interrupted "So we've travelled to the Dark Ages or something like that?" he asked

Cortana replied "No we're not in the Dark Ages; it's the year 2012 and, you won't believe this but, there are super powered heroes and villains here" Cortana brought images of men & women in various costumes fighting each other or strange beings; some fired bolts of energy from their hands or eyes, some flew through the air with or without any visible means of flight, a giant green behemoth roared its fury as it destroyed a tank, a man-sized red and gold robot fired beams of energy from either its palms or chest, another image showed a well-built man decked out in a patriotic American flag themed suit throwing a circular shield, the images went on for a few minutes till Cortana cut the feed.

"No fucking way" Miranda said disbelievingly

"You've gotta be kidding me" Johnson said slack jawed

"Impossible" the Arbiter uttered

"Are you sure you aren't rampant Cortana?" John asked

"Unfortunately not Chief, these images Courage and I picked up are the real deal" Cortana said seriously, John could tell that Cortana wasn't joking around, she was dead serious.

Courage then said "I must agree with Cortana here Reclaimers, this is Earth but we must consider that this is not OUR Earth or even our universe"

"So what are you trying to say?" Miranda asked, Cortana explained "When we tried to use our Slipspace drive, something must've gone wrong and we somehow, against all probability ended up in a alternate universe"

"What can you tell us of this universe Cortana?" Thel asked, "Well for starters, humanity does have some advancements that could rival the UNSC or the Covenant but has not reached the level of colonisation that our universe has as the governments here have not banded together to reach that level" Cortana replied.

"What about these super heroes and villains?" Miranda asked, Courage then explained "The information we have obtained has showed that some groups of these super powered beings have formed groups or alliances for good or evil, three stand out; the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-men"

Images showed various super powered humans in different costumes fighting either human or non-human threats, these were the Avengers, the next images showed a quartet of two men, a woman and what looked like an orange rocklike man, the two men and woman wore blue uniforms with a stylised four on them while the orange rock being wore blue pants, these were the Fantastic Four, the next images showed men and women wearing different costumes but each had a stylised X on them; one man wearing futuristic glasses fired beams of energy from them, a beautiful African woman with white hair flying through the air and manipulating lightning, another showed a blue furred feline like man preforming acrobatic feats that were beyond any normal human, these were the X-men.

"Odd names, is there a reason for them?" Miranda asked, Courage replied "The information shows that these beings are commonly referred to as mutants or metahumans, some with artificial or natural powers or otherwise, some have banded together for the common good, others the opposite"

"Natural?" said Thel perplexed "Do not all of them have superpowers?" he asked, Cortana said "Not all of them some have trained their bodies to peak human efficiency to a point some could rival a pre-augmented Spartan" Images showed of a patriot themed man wielding a circular shield, another of man wearing a purple suit firing arrows from a bow, another showed a man wearing a black and white suit with a target on his face using various ranged weapons.

"Let's focus on the good guys first" Miranda said and added "What can you tell us about them?" she asked

Cortana explained "We'll start off with the first group" she said bringing up images of men and women dressed in various costumes and outfits, "These men and women are known as the Avengers, when they first started out they consisted of Dr. Henry Pym AKA Ant-Man AKA Giant-man, Janet Van Dyne AKA the Wasp, Anthony Stark AKA Iron Man, Dr. Bruce Banner AKA the Hulk and, believe it or not, the actual Norse God of Thunder Thor" Cortana said

"Wait a minute, are you telling me they have an actual god amongst them?" Johnson asked

"Shocking ain't it?" Cortana said

Johnson thought to himself "I think I need a stiff drink or two"

Cortana then continued "The group first formed when the Norse god Loki, Thor's step brother, framed Dr. Banner for a train accident, Rick Jones, an associate of Dr. Banner, sent out an SOS bringing these five people together and brought the truth out and put an end to Loki's plan, from that point they stayed together under the creed to take on those that no single hero could, but due to internal problems Dr. Banner left, leaving the others to pick up the slack but someone came along to join them and I think you're going to like this one John" Cortana said with a smile.

Images of a man wearing American flag themed form fitting suit wearing a blue mask with an A on it.

"Meet Steve Rogers AKA Captain America, the first and ONLY successful super soldier of this universe" Cortana said.

Courage then took over "The program that created Captain America was called Project Rebirth, meant to create a physically superior force of soldiers during WW2 against the Nazis who also sought to do the same. Rogers at the time was physically frail and weak and was rejected from recruitment offices many times but a scientist by the name of Abraham Erskine noticed how much Rogers wanted to serve his country and thus recruited him into the program"

John remarked "Ironic that the Americans succeeded where the Germans failed"

Cortana smiled and said "Indeed, Rogers was injected with a formula and then bombarded under controlled conditions with 'Vita-Rays', the result was that Rogers was enhanced to peak human physical condition, but due to a Nazi spy killing Erskine who had the formula memorised meant that Rogers was the only super soldier to be produced, other attempts have resulted in severe mental conditions and as for current attempts, they are mixed at best, but considering Rogers if he was in a our reality he would've made a fine Spartan"

"Wait a minute, you said he fought in WW2, how is he still alive?" Johnson asked, Courage spoke "During the closing of WW2, the Nazis had created a crude atomic explosive and had launched it towards America, Rogers and his partner managed to intercept and destroy it over the northern hemisphere, where Rogers and his partner were forced to abandon and had to bail; landing in the frozen hemisphere the enhanced nature of Rogers body placed him in a form of cryogenic stasis, the Avengers found him, revived him and he has lead them ever since often leading them into battle at the frontline" the Monitor said.

"Whilst there are those of human, artificial or even alien origin, there are others that of supernatural and mystical origin" Cortana said with a slight smirk, "No way" Johnson said sceptically Courage said "I'm afraid not Reclaimer, we had triple checked the information there are supernatural and mystical forces in this universe, observe"

Images showed of a biker with a flaming skull for a head, a man dressed as a Viking wielding a hammer surrounded by lightning, a man dressed in a red cape fighting a man dressed in green and black robes.

Johnson said out loud "I definitely need a stiff drink now" Miranda, Thel & John nodded while Cortana gave a smirk.

Miranda then asked "What about the other members?" Cortana replied "Another member of the Avengers is Dr. Henry Pym AKA Ant-Man AKA Giant-Man, a scientist who had developed technology that could shrink or make a person grow in size, he first started out as Ant-Man; as his name implies he had the ability to control ants making them do whatever he wanted by controlling them with his helmet, he then abandoned that persona and became Giant-Man wearing a suit and technology making him grow in size increasing his strength"

"However there is one thing that he had created for, let's say misguided reasons, an AI program called Ultron to protect humanity, but Ultron broke free of its control parameters and sought to destroy humanity" Cortana said with slight disgust in her voice at the scientist's actions.

"One way Ultron sought to destroy humanity was to create an android called the Vision, its mission was to get close the Avengers and when Ultron deemed the time right, the Vision was to betray the Avengers ultimately destroying them, but due to the android having the brain patterns of one of the heroes it rebelled and joined them" Courage said.

Cortana was very interested in that tid bit of information as androids didn't exist in their reality.

"What of the aliens on this world?" Thel asked, curious to see what kind of alien life forms existed in this universe

Cortana replied "Well the two main alien races are the Kree Empire and the Skrulls; both races have a serious blood feud that's been going for centuries and Earth was once their battle ground to try and gain a foothold in the universe, one notable among them is the one known Super Skrull who has the powers of the Fantastic Four" an video showed a green skinned humanoid with vertical ridges on his chin manipulating fire, invisibility, super strength and stretching to incredible lengths.

John said "Compile all information on him, I want to be prepared in case I face him" Cortana said "Already on it Chief" Courage said "At once Reclaimer"

"What about the Kree? What do they look like?" Miranda asked

Cortana brought up images of blue skinned humanoids using advanced weaponry and said "These are the Kree they are a mainly hostile race but have had peace negotiations with Earth and a cease fire pact, one notable Kree is Captain Mar-Vell or as it was pronounced Captain Marvel, he was part of a minority of pink-tan skinned Kree & was sent to disable Earth's defensive systems but defected in favour of Earth but eventually suffered and died from cancer, he was well liked in the hero community"

"So these Avengers are Earth's only line of defence against otherworldly threats?" Thel asked, "No, there are two other groups who could handle interplanetary threats" Cortana said bringing up images of the quartet of heroes.

"This is the group known as the Fantastic Four" Cortana explained before saying "They are primarily an exploration and scientific faction but have handled threats from Earth and other planets."

Courage then said "The group gained their powers when an experimental ship they were using was hit by a cosmic storm and due to faulty shielding they were exposed and mutated"

The first image showed a man in his thirties with brown hair greying on the sides, stretching parts of his body to various lengths, "This is Doctor Reed Richards AKA Mr Fantastic, the primary leader of the group, he is considered one of the greatest scientific minds of this world, even before the accident, he was well versed in many scientific fields but has expanded upon being empowered including interdimensional travel, time travel, genetics and space travel, he could very well be our best shot at home" Cortana said.

Johnson asked "What powers does he have?" Courage answered "Dr. Richards can stretch and compress nearly any part of his body to incredible lengths; he can also use his powers to increase his size thus increasing his strength, though he is not a frontline fighter preferring to outwit his opponents"

The next image showed a beautiful blonde haired woman "This is Susan Richards nee Storm AKA the Invisible Woman, the second in command of the team and considered the heart & soul of the team" Cortana said before continuing "She is the wife of Dr. Richards as well as mother to their two children Franklin and Valeria, she is considered the most powerful of the group as her powers are not limited to invisibility as she is capable of rendering others non-visible as well as manipulating psionic force fields of any construction and density so long as she maintains concentration"

The next image showed a young blonde haired man Cortana spoke "This man is Jonathon Lowell Spencer Storm also known as Johnny AKA the Human Torch; he is the younger brother of Susan, is the youngest member of the group and considered the class clown, also has a knack for pulling pranks and getting into trouble and has a strange relationship with the group's frontline fighter the Thing, it shifts from brotherhood to hostility depending on the situation, he is also a serial womaniser so watch yourself Commander" Cortana said with a suppressed smirk receiving a snort from Miranda.

Cortana then started to explain Johnny's powers "He's a pyrokinetic, capable of engulfing himself in fire without harm, generating, absorbing and redirecting fire and is capable of flight in oxygen rich environments, despite Johnny's immature mindset he has a wide spectrum of knowledge when it comes to his powers making him a unique combatant" Cortana said.

The last image was of large being made of orange rock roughly in the shape of man "This is Benjamin Jacob Grimm AKA the Thing, he is Dr. Richards oldest friend as they were roommates in college, he has had a colourful past as he was once a street gang member until his older brother died in a street fight, Ben then gained a football scholarship earning several advanced degrees in engineering, joined the Marine Corps, then a test pilot then an astronaut for NASA" Cortana explained.

Courage then spoke "His powers and appearance are a result of the accident; he has vast strength, stamina and resistance to injury surviving impacts and injuries that you with the armour on Chief. Ben has had his powers and appearance removed on occasion but has willingly reverted to it in order to help his friends, he has a long standing rivalry with the being known as the Hulk"

Cortana then brought up another image, this image of a armour clad man wearing green robes and a hood and Cortana then said "This man is the Fantastic Four's biggest enemy, he is name is Victor Von Doom AKA Dr. Doom, he has a long standing hatred of Dr. Richards whom he blames for an experiment that caused the accident that disfigured him in college, Richards did warn him about the dangers but Doom thinks that Richards sabotaged his experiment, Doom is Richards equal in intellect surpassing him in knowledge of the occult and sorcery, Doom is also the monarch and ruler of the country Latveria thus granting him diplomatic immunity, should he be made aware of our technology he will make a try for it and use it to his advantage."

Miranda's face turned hard and said "Compile all information on him; we need to be prepared in case he tries something. Chief, Johnson" she said turning to John and Johnson and said "I give you two permission to terminate this man with extreme prejudice in case he tries anything, regardless of diplomatic immunity"

John "Yes Ma'am"

Johnson "You got it"

Miranda turned to Thel and said "Arbiter, I know that you're not under my command and you may in fact outrank me but as a human, I give you permission to terminate Doom should he try anything against us" Thel replied with seriousness "I shall endeavour to carry this order out should it come to that Commander Keyes."

"Who else is on the hero list?" Miranda asked

Courage replied "That would be the X-Men Commander, they comprise mainly of mutants who have banded together to fight against humans and other mutants who don't share the idea of peaceful human/mutant coexistence as mutants in this world are persecuted for being born with powers and abilities beyond any normal human"

"That's ridiculous, how can they be persecuted for something in their genes that they have no control over?" Miranda exclaimed, Cortana's image flashed red as she said "I know commander, one 'normal' human who had pushed for the registration or capture of all mutants was Senator Kelly though after being saved by the X-Men he has changed his stance on mutants"

"Good to know" Miranda said "So who leads the X-Men?" she asked.

An image of a bald man dressed in what would consider a college professor or headmaster in either a wheelchair or hover chair talking with various people, both in the hero community and political.

"This is Professor Charles Xavier AKA Professor X; he is a mutant telepath of the highest order and the leader and founder of the X-Men" Cortana said before continuing "He formed the X-Men to fight against his old friend turned adversary Eric Lensherr AKA Magneto, a mutant Jewish Holocaust survivor who didn't share his friend's idea of human/mutant coexistence and formed the Brotherhood of Mutants, a mutant terrorist sect that launched attacks against the normal human populace"

"What are Magneto's abilities?" John asked

"Basically he can control anything made of metal and bend it to his will, I'm working on a way to counter act his abilities when you're in armour Chief" Cortana replied before adding "Magneto also has the ability of flight via magnetism and wears a helmet that prevents him from being attacked telepathically, he can also generate EMP bursts and warp visible light around him to become invisible."

John noted to watch out for Magneto should he ever face him in combat.

"Moving on" A video showed a man wearing various costumes except for one thing; a visor with red glass but when opening them beams of red energy came causing much damage; "This is Scott Summers AKA Cyclops" Cortana said

"He is the primary field leader when it comes to missions; his mutant ability is firing red concussive energy expelled from his eyes" Courage said "But due to brain trauma he suffered in his childhood he cannot control his ability requiring him to wear special glasses and visors to contain the energy" Courage added.

Another video showed a beautiful woman with green eyes and red hair moving objects from a distance, Cortana then explained "This is the late Dr Jean Grey AKA Marvel Girl AKA Phoenix and the first wife of Scott Summers; she is a mutant telekinetic **and** telepath of the highest order, when she first developed her powers she had no control over them until Professor Xavier came and taught her to control her abilities"

"But there was one other thing that made her very powerful and very dangerous" Cortana said in a warning tone before adding "Dr Grey was once bonded to a cosmic entity known as the Phoenix granting her destructive power until Jean sacrificed herself, ending her life and the Phoenix"

"On a side note an alien race Shi'ar that had come into conflict with the X-Men as they both feared and worshipped the Phoenix" Cortana added.

Bringing up another video, this one showed a blue furred feline man in various costumes doing all sorts of acrobatic feats, some even beyond human ability.

"This is Dr Henry Phillip 'Hank' McCoy AKA Beast; he is the resident scientist of the team, diverse in multiple fields ranging from genetics, mathematics and physics. His mutation had started from a simian appearance to more feline appearance and his abilities are superhuman agility, strength, endurance, speed, co-ordination, dexterity, flexibility and balance"

The next image caught the UNSC crew off guard; a man with white feathered wings on his back then another more menacing form showing metallic wings and blue skin.

Courage then explained "This is Warren Kenneth Worthington III AKA Angel AKA Archangel, he is a multibillionaire and the first to ever use his abilities for good, though there was internal conflict between him and the X-Men but they eventually came to terms with each other. Later in life Warren suffered a traumatic event when one of the group's enemies by the name of Apocalypse captured Warren and subjected him to an experiment that turned his skin blue and his wings into a metallic form and was placed under mind control, Warren was freed and changed his codename Angel to Archangel and he soon turned back into his normal form because of his healing factor and blood that can heal anyone that has compatible blood, during the period of his transformation Warren could his metallic wings to cut through most substances and fire razor sharp shards of his wings at enemies"

"Cortana, compile a list of all potential hostiles in the world" John said, Miranda asked "We aren't going to start something are we?" John replied "No but I want to be prepared in case things go south, can't be too careful"

"Already on it John, but we have a few more members to show you" Cortana said, a video showed of a beautiful dark skinned woman with long platinum white hair flying through the air, manipulating wind and lightning.

"This is Ororo Munroe AKA Storm; she was once a pick pocket in Cairo until Xavier found her and freed her from the clutches of the psychic entity known as the Shadow King, for most of her life she was revered by her people for her ability to control the weather such as bringing rain but she isn't arrogant about it as she has been shown to be quite kind and caring but she does have a nasty side if any of her friends are threatened" Cortana said.

The next video showed a short but muscular man wearing diverse uniforms the common trait being diamond shaped pieces worn over the eyes with white lenses, the man also appeared to have metal claws coming from his gloves but upon closer inspection the claws came in between his knuckles; "This is Logan AKA Wolverine" Cortana said "He's got quite an interesting file, turns out most of his past is unknown, even to him, except for an event that left more than a mark; he was captured by a black-ops program called Weapon X searching for means to create living weapons. According to information me and Courage have gathered he has three feet long retractable claws, three on each arm that come between his knuckles, rather than being made of keratin the claws are made extremely dense bone, keep in mind there are no natural openings for these claws but to counteract that Logan has an accelerated healing factor that allows him to heal from almost any injury and resist most forms of drugs and toxins"

"What about this Weapon X program? What did they do Mr Slice and Dice" Johnson asked

Courage answered "Weapon X captured Logan and molecularly bonded the substance adamantium to his skeletal structure and claws; adamantium itself is said to be indestructible, we will have to obtain a sample to be sure and when made into bladed weapons and such, they will cut and pierce almost anything, except other substances of similar properties such as Captain America's shield being made of vibranium, adamantium itself or metals that have been enchanted to be indestructible"

"However due to the machinations of Weapon X Logan had his memory wiped in hopes of creating a mindless killing machine but Logan soon escaped and found his way to the X-Men where he has served them ever since but has gone off on his own to deal with personal issues and has a confrontational personality when it comes to authority figures regarding his willingness to cross the line where others do not" Courage added.

"Great, he'll take a real liking to you Chief" Miranda remarked, John shrugged, he had more than his fair share of those who did not like working with Spartans, the ODSTs being a prime example.

"Now that we have seen the X-Men's roster, there are two more noticeable individuals that need to be taken note of" Cortana said.

A video showed of a young man wearing a red and blue costume with spider web lines across his costume, swinging from building to building utilising strands of thin rope coming from the underside of his wrists.

"This Peter Benjamin Parker AKA Spiderman, he is the only child of deceased CIA agents Richard and Mary Parker, they died in a plane accident when he was a toddler so he was raised by his elderly aunt and uncle May Parker and Ben Parker" Cortana said before continuing "He is one of the few to start his heroic career during his teens if the information is accurate, Peter gained his powers when visiting a scientific lab where a genetically altered irradiated spider bit him, altering his genetic code granting a form of super strength, superhuman agility, speed, reflexes, able to crawl on walls as well as a sixth sense dubbed 'Spider-Sense' that warns him of danger, Peter also has genius level intellect proven by the various array of devices that he has built to help him fight crime such as his web shooters that allows him to shoot lines and ropes made of high grade nylon that stick to almost any surface to transport himself around the city he protects"

Cortana then added "It's unknown, even SHIELD is unsure as to why Peter fights crime but it is believed it was due to an attempted carjacking that caused the death of his uncle, Peter often splits his time between his freelance photography, teaching, his wife Mary Jane Watson, his aunt and his super hero life"

"Sadly Peter is often the victim of persecution and slander by the media, more specifically the Editor in Chief J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle who regards Spiderman as a menace to society, so Peter is often the underdog fighting against more powerful foes but eventually wins" Cortana added.

The next video showed of a giant green behemoth of a man roaring and destroying everything around it; "This is the Hulk or when he is not throwing the mother of all temper tantrums Dr Bruce Banner, Dr Banner was a scientist in the field of nuclear radiation, more specifically gamma radiation" Cortana said.

"How did Dr Banner gain his powers?" John asked

Cortana replied "His powers were the result of an accident during the test of a bomb he designed when he left the safety of the bunker to get a teenager, Rick Jones, to safety who didn't know about it at the time, Dr Banner succeeded in getting the boy to safety but was caught in the blast, the gamma radiation triggered a mutation that according Rick Jones transformed Dr Banner into the Hulk for the first time"

"Does Dr Banner have any control over his powers?" Miranda asked

Courage answered "Unfortunately no, whenever Dr Banner finds himself angry or otherwise, the Hulk takes control and destroys anyone and anything within his sight and as such has been the victim of persecution by the military and those who wish to obtain his power"

"I assume these persecutors wish to use the Hulk as a weapon of some sort?" Thel asked "Correct, the military deems him a menace or a tool to be used, many have attempted to duplicate the event that gave Dr Banner his powers but results have shown to bring even more dangerous threats that the Hulk must resolve, for while these Gamma Mutants are initially stronger than the Hulk and have retained their intelligence they cannot match the pure ferocity of the Hulk for you see, the Hulk's strength, speed and healing factor are proportionate to his anger levels meaning the angrier he becomes the stronger he becomes virtually making him near unstoppable, exercise extreme caution should you encounter him Reclaimers" Courage said

Cortana said "I'm working on a way to fight the Hulk in case we ever do face him in combat wait till you see it" she said with a smirk.

Cortana then brought up something that was of interest to the group "Now that we know about this world, why don't we go down there and integrate ourselves with society? Y'know get out there and mingle?" she said.

Miranda asked "What did you have in mind?" Cortana replied "Well for starters we need to get you off the ship, it's not healthy to be cooped up here all the time so we need to get out there and mingle with the people of this world"

Johnson remarked "Can't remember the last time I had shore leave, how about you Chief?" he asked the Spartan, John replied "I have no qualms about going down to this earth except for leaving the armour and encountering the less than savoury people of this world"

"C'mon John, you'll never know unless you try and besides I'm thinking you'd look good with a tan, right Commander?" she asked, Miranda replied "Oh no, I'm not getting in a lovers quarrel you two figure it out" "What about me?" Thel asked "We'll figure something out for you split-lip" Cortana replied with a glint in her eyes.

John thought glumly to himself "She has that look again"

_A few days later_

John, Johnson and Miranda had integrated themselves in the city, Cortana had created identities for them and siphoned eight billion dollars in money from numerous criminal, terrorist and super villain organisations and sent evidence of their crimes to the proper authorities, the identity John had was John Mendez-Halsey, Miranda was Miranda Keyes-Halsey and Johnson was simply Avery Junior Johnson. Regarding the similar surnames between John and Miranda, Cortana initially thought to make them husband and wife but as Miranda put it "No offence Chief but you just aren't my type" so they were made half siblings, same mother but different father, Johnson was made their 'godfather'.

Buying a good sized estate outside of New York, John and co. moved in bringing in necessary supplies and such unnoticed, Pelican landings could go unnoticed as well.

For transportation, Cortana and Courage designed a Warthog jeep that they dubbed the Puma for John and co. to use, it was modified to not look military but it was still distinct enough for people to take notice, any questions about the new Puma were answered with the answer of having it built custom made from scratch.

Miranda and Johnson had no difficulty integrating into society; Miranda went to the cinemas, art galleries, museums and such while Johnson did much the same minus the art galleries.

Thel and Courage stayed on the Dawn where through cameras they observed human society and behaviour and learnt to understand it, Thel at times was confused by the persecution of mutants but reserved judgement as he remembered how his race often considered humanity weak, fragile and unworthy but during the course of the Human/Covenant war Thel and his fellow Elites learned to respect humanity as an opponent and later ally.

Cortana occupied her time by not just typical information gathering but surfing the net, downloading shows, videos and on occasion dabbled in online gaming much to the fear and ire of many gamers who had dubbed her 'The Hand of God' whenever they saw her icon on the screen which was the UNSC eagle and globe without the lettering, two users, Hot-Stuff249 and Cooldude974 had challenged her many times, Cortana knew who they were in real life and was rather mischievous when they came to challenge her.

John on his part had the most difficulty adjusting to normal society, as a Spartan he never had time to socialise with non-Spartan personnel and civilians, the most social contact he had was with fellow Spartans, Dr Halsey, Chief Mendez; Mendez was in many ways a father figure, teaching John to be the man he was today and a great influence, his fellow Spartans were his brothers and sisters both on and off the field as they had been through many missions and assignments, losing his fellow Spartans was hard for John.

Dr Halsey was his mother figure, one who had always tried to make sure that John and the other Spartans had the best equipment, the best armours and whenever she came to talk with them, she would help treat their wounds and remind them of their own humanity, when Dr Halsey talked with John it was small talk but it was meaningful talk nonetheless.

Another thing John had difficulty dealing with was the attention he got whenever he went out, his pale skin caught the eye of many people, many just assumed he was an albino or a hermit, but whenever women got a good look at him, they would admit he was quite good looking; whilst John wasn't in the same league as most male models or high profile actors, he was rugged and chiselled owing to keeping his body in perfect working condition through rigorous exercise, the pale skin gave John an exotic look making him look like a Greek statue.

John and Johnson were driving through town on their way to the supermarket when John felt a ringing in his ear, this was the nanomite colony saying that someone was trying to contact him and through the nanomites John could communicate without having to use his mouth to speak.

"John here" he said

"_John it's Cortana, have you and the Sergeant made into the city yet?"_ Cortana asked

"Entering it now, was there anything else or are you just checking up on us?" John replied

"_A little bit of both, the Commander asked to remind you to pick up some milk and eggs and there are reports that a super criminal has escaped Ryker's Island" _Cortana said

"Noted, anything else?" John asked

"_You'll be happy to know that a few of your admirers have asked your sister and godfather for advice on how to court you"_ Cortana said with mirth in her voice

John sighed irritably and asked "What did they say?" Cortana replied with laughter _"Get you nice and loaded and have their wicked way with you"_

John sighed and said "If that is all, Johnson and I heading to the supermarket, 117 out" Cortana got the last word in _"Be careful John, your admirers might take Miranda and Johnson's advice"_ she said amusedly and cut off the link.

A few minutes of turning off at a corner John and Johnson were greeted with a wrecked car landing in front of the Puma, with a screech John slammed on the brake and Johnson yelled "What the hell?"

John pressed the emergency call button on the dash board of the jeep, one of the many customisations that Cortana and Courage had installed.

In a split second, Miranda's face showed on the holo panel along with Thel's and Cortana's, "Chief what's happened?" Miranda asked, John replied with all haste "A car just landed in front of me and Johnson, we need to know what's going on" Cortana's image replied "Got it, realigning satellites now"

A few seconds later, Cortana reported "It seems an enemy of Spiderman's, the Rhino escaped Ryker's Island and wasted no time in causing some damage, he's destroying a bank a block away from your position, police have been called to apprehend him but things look pretty dicey"

Johnson asked Miranda's image "Orders ma'am?" Miranda's image replied "Suit up and engage the hostile, the Arbiter will teleported down to you along with the usual package, but don't go for lethal intent we can't risk alienating ourselves to the locals, those are your orders Sergeant, Nightingale out"

Miranda's image disappeared and the Puma was encompassed in a golden glow and levitated a few inches off the ground, showing the signs of teleportation.

After suiting up at the Dawn and picking up Thel along with Cortana, the four were sent down to Earth where the Rhino was causing havoc.

"Let's go be heroes John" Cortana said cheerfully John replied "So long as we don't have to say any corny one liners."

Driving the Jeep to the bank with Johnson in the passenger seat and Thel taking gunner position, they raced to the area.

Alex O'Hirn AKA the Rhino had just escaped from Ryker's Island and was busy robbing the bank when he heard the sound of a car racing towards him.

Rhino turned to see a strange looking jeep with three strange armoured individuals in it; the first two looked human but wearing advanced looking armour but the third one taking the gunner position did not look human at all and stood taller than an average human.

Rhino just assumed the three individuals were wearing some sort of Iron Man armour and said to himself "Doesn't matter I'll crush 'em like beer cans" and readied himself to face the new comers.

John and co. saw the Rhino standing there getting ready to charge at them and asked Cortana "Cortana give me all the information on the Rhino and his weaknesses" Cortana replied "Alex O'Hirn AKA the Rhino, once a petty crook who was subjected to an experiment that gave him super strength and endurance and wears a suit of tightly woven kevlar that mimics rhino hide, big as a Hunter and more stupid than a Brute I suggest using armour piercing rounds but don't go for the kill" "Understood, 117 out"

With a screech and a slide, the trio stopped in front of the Rhino, John got out and aimed his battle rifle at Rhino as Johnson did the same and Thel readied his carbine; "I suggest you put your hands on your head and surrender Alex" John said to the behemoth, Rhino snorted contemptuously and said "Let me guess, new to the hero gig? Well it's gonna take a lot more than some fancy suits of armour and guns to stop me" with that said Rhino roared and charged forward with his horn aimed at John.

"So be it" John muttered and squeezed the trigger of the battle rifle, aiming at Rhino's knees, the round tore through the air and went straight into Rhino's knee caps.

Rhino roared out his pain as the battle rifle rounds pierced his suit and went into his knee and clutched his knee in pain.

Peter Parker was swinging through the city towards the bank where Rhino was robbing, he heard the commotion on his police radio in his office while trying to wrangle his pay check from Pickle Puss, making his way to an area where he hid his costume and donning it, Peter raced through the city on his way to apprehend Rhino.

"Hey, Web Head, what's happening?" a familiar voice rang out beside Peter; looking to the side Peter saw his long-time friend Johnny Storm AKA the Human Torch flying through the air in his flame form.

"Where's the fire chief?" Peter joked "You gotta get better jokes Spidey, seriously" Johnny said smiling and asked "Where you headed anyway?" Peter answered "One of my regular play mates broke out and is robbing a bank at the moment, care to help out?" he asked, Johnny smirked and replied "Course man, now c'mon we've got bad guys to beat up and lovely ladies to save" "Amen to that brother"

Reaching the area Peter and Johnny were greeted by the scene of Rhino clutching his knee pain and three strange armoured individuals wielding weapons of unknown make and a strange looking jeep.

Landing in front of the three strangers, Peter asked "What the hell is this? Who are you guys?" asking the three strangers; the armour they were wearing were far more advanced looking than any of Tony's armours and the guns they were holding certainly didn't match anything Peter had seen in his life.

"Now's not important Spiderman, right now we have to deal with a hostile" the first armoured stranger said (John), Rhino stood up, snarled at the group "You shot me! Me! The Rhino! I'll rip you apart for that!" he roared.

Charging forward, Rhino aimed for the first armoured stranger, when the non-human armoured stranger fired his alien looking rifle at the Rhino's shoulder; the covenant carbine was essentially a rapid fire fuel rod gun while not having the same deadly impact it was useful for medium to long range fighting.

The energy round sped through the air hitting Rhino square in the shoulder, burning through the Kevlar and burning flesh, Rhino roared out his rage and pain and charged forward even faster.

John seeing that Rhino wasn't going to stop, quickly brought out a custom made gravity hammer and charged forward; Peter and Johnny were about to stop John from charging forward until Johnson stopped them and said "Don't worry about it, let the Master Chief show you how it's done"

John readied his hammer as Rhino closed the gap between them; Rhino threw a punch which John easily avoided and slammed his hammer into the shoulder of Rhino, breaking bone easily; Rhino roared out his pain and blindly threw a punch with his good arm.

This punch John did not see coming and was slammed square in the chest, luckily the energy shields took most of the impact encompassing him in a golden glow which Peter and Johnny saw.

"Personal energy shields? Not even Tony has those" Peter thought as he watched the golden on John dissipate; John got back and asked Cortana "Cortana how are the shields holding up?" Cortana replied "Shields went down just a little bit but you can't take another punch like that, you have to end this quickly" "Understood, out"

John grabbed his hammer and charged at Rhino; Rhino did not see this coming and was slammed in the back of the head with what John considered a gentle tap, dazing him.

John put his hammer on his back and got out his pistol and switched the regular bullets with TTRs, Johnny and Peter noticed and cautiously moved forward, assuming that John was going to kill Rhino.

"Are you going to kill him?" Peter asked the armoured man, "No" the armoured man said simply "Well if you're not going to kill him, then you wouldn't be loading your gun" Johnny said, "Point taken" the armoured man said.

BLAM!

"Holy shit! You killed him!" Johnny said, Johnson stepped forward and said "Relax, fire-bug, if the Chief wanted to kill this son-of-a-bitch, he would've done it already and besides this bastard's still alive we only used a tranquiliser round on him, just take a closer look"

Johnny and Peter noticed the Rhino's chest rising and falling and Peter said "I didn't know SHIELD made those kind of rounds, you are from SHIELD right?" Peter asked, John answered "No we're not from SHIELD and you could say we're not from around here" "Are you aliens?" Johnny asked looking at the Arbiter, John replied "The sergeant and I are human but the Arbiter is what you might nick-name an Elite"

"So if you're a Master Chief and he's a sergeant does that mean you're part of an army or something?" Peter asked "We are but that is classified information, if you'll excuse us we have civilians that are in need of medical attention, sergeant on me" John said.

As John and co. moved about giving civilians medical aid, Peter talked with Johnny "So what do you think Storm? Are they on the level?" Peter asked "Not sure they seem to be telling the truth but they're keeping quiet about who they are, what about your Spider-Sense is it tingling?" Johnny asked "No it's not so we're going to have to take them to be friendly" Peter replied.

Cortana contacted John by the radio "John, satellites have picked up media vans on their way here we'll have to split" John sighed, he didn't want to have to deal with the media now, Cortana sensed his frustration and said "John I have an idea just hear me out"

"Spiderman, Mister Storm" John said to the two heroes, Peter and Johnny turned to see the armoured man walking towards them "I have a favour to ask of you" John said "Sure what is it?" Peter asked John replied "The information I have gathered on you indicates that you have many contacts within the super hero community I would like you to send them this message; I do not want them to come after me, I will give answers in time my group and I just a need time to prepare" "How much time will you need?" Peter asked "Hopefully not much, but my group and I do not have any hostile intentions towards you and the hero community, only if you provoke us unjustly will we retaliate" John replied before adding "This is where we part ways, hopefully we will meet again under more pleasant circumstances" John offered his hand to shake Peter's.

Peter shook the hand politely and so did Johnny, Johnny asked "What do we call you guys?" John replied "Call me Spartan-117" Johnson answered "Call me Sarge" and Thel replied "You may call me Arbiter" and with that said John, Johnson and Thel left in the Puma, the Puma then shimmered and disappeared to the naked eye, another feature that Courage and Cortana installed.

_On the Dawn_

"Mission accomplished?" Miranda asked as John and co. entered the bridge.

"Yes Ma'am" John and Johnson replied whilst Thel nodded, Cortana said through the MJOLNIR's speakers "It was indeed Commander, I think this calls for a celebration; to commemorate our first outing as super heroes" she said.

Miranda smiled and said "Indeed does pizza sound good gentlemen?" she asked the three males

Johnson said "Sounds good to me Ma'am"

John "Yes Ma'am"

Thel replied "I've never had this 'pizza' dish before but I shall try it once"

Johnson smiled and said "Oh you're gonna love pizza split-lip, c'mon I'll walk ya through the menu" leading Thel to another area of the ship where Thel was going to be taught about all the wonders of pizza.

_Back on Earth, Fantastic Four's HQ_

Standing in front of a large computer screen were the Fantastic Four and Spiderman; on the screen in four parts were the X-Men and the Avengers along with Nick Fury.

"So what can you tell me about these three?" Nick asked

"Well pretty much as before, when me and Johnny got there Rhino was on the ground crying like a little girl and they knocked him unconscious, they were wearing really advanced armour, two were human and the other was what they called an 'Elite' and they said they weren't from around and weren't part of SHIELD and that they would give us answers when they felt they were ready" Peter said straight to Nick.

Iron Man or without his helmet on, Tony Stark asked "What can you tell me about their armour?" Peter replied again "Well believe it or not from what me and Johnny saw they had personal energy shields" this revelation shocked everyone as Peter said that.

Reed Richards AKA Mr Fantastic asked Tony "Could it be possible that they copied your Iron technology?" he asked, Tony replied "No, all Iron tech is kept in a standalone server that can only be accessed by me and me alone and none of my armours have personal energy shielding, and that kind of tech alone would tax the energy outputs on my armour, I wonder what powers it?"

Nick replied "You may get that answer soon enough, if these guys aren't on the level"

Steve Rogers AKA Captain America frowned and said "Must we judge them before they even have a chance to explain themselves?"

"Rogers, it's my job to watch and worry about these kind of people every day even on my time off I have to do it, so yes I am suspicious about them and their motives and what they could do to us and the planet" Nick said

"That makes one of us bub" Logan AKA Wolverine replied, "Logan" Scott Summers AKA Cyclops said in a warning tone.

"Don't start Summers, these guys are obviously part of some military outfit, I say we track them down and get some answers" Logan said

"Logan, we cannot simply do that, you saw the footage they are very capable of taking down large powerful opponents so we cannot risk angering them" Emma Frost AKA White Queen said

"My point exactly Frost, these guys have powerful tech and they will point them at us if they feel like it and what if guys like Doom or Hydra get their hands on that kind of tech? We have to find these guys and get answers from them" Logan said

"So we're agreed? We give, minus Logan and Nick, Spartan-117 and his cohorts the benefit of the doubt?" Tony asked, everyone nodded and agreed.

One question was on all their minds however regarding the Spartan:

Who are you and where do you come from?

Angry lil' elf: Whew that… took… a… long… time, oh boy I gotta take a rest or a holiday maybe both

Anyways since Harbinger of Kaos has done this kind of story before I wanted to try my hand at it, so Harbinger if you're reading this I hope you like it.

Also if you look on my profile I have set up a poll showing romantic pair potentials for the Chief, I can't be bothered reading them all out, but I do hope that Black Widow gets paired up with Chief but we'll see how we go, I may or may not make it a harem so it depends on my writing ability so Freedom Guard and Harbinger if you're reading this; a little help please?

Anyways read, rate, review and subscribe,

Cheers,

Angry lil' elf


	2. Chapter 2

The Avenging Spartan Chapter 2

Angry lil' elf: Hey everyone, sorry for taking so long, it's been awhile whilst doing uni work and looking for a job. In this chapter we see the organisation HYDRA attack New York City and John & co. suit up to engage HYDRA alongside the Avengers, the X-men and the Fantastic Four.

Now for the fan mail:

For formerly: Yes I do realise that I have ripped off other people's stories but I am trying to make this story my own as you will see in this chapter where HYDRA attacks New York and unfortunately I have started this story so I will not quit with it, if you don't like it, don't read it.

For Supremo: I know that the Fantastic Four have changed their name to Future Foundation but as I explained before this is my version of the Marvel universe, and yes Spiderman is part of the Avengers in this fic but I made him serve part time as he does have his own life to deal with. Regarding Spiderman and Ms Marvel they did go out on one date in the mainstream comics but nothing ever came of it I think so it leaves that pairing to readers and fanfic writers to their imagination.

For mcknight: Thanks for the review mate, and yes I have corrected the typo in the title so don't worry about it.

Regarding the Arbiter, I've made him somewhat repentant about killing humans as Elites ever since the war with the UNSC have questioned why the Prophets did not offer humanity to join the Covenant and when the Elites found out the truth about the purpose of the Halo rings and how humanity were to be the Forerunners' successors the Elites pretty much regretted going to war with humanity and now fight alongside them.

Johnson will have a laugh at the costumed heroes and villains of the Marvel universe and occasionally call the heroes pansies for not finally ending their enemies. John will be feared by his opponents as he doesn't have a problem ending them you can quote me on that.

Regarding pairings for Johnson and Miranda I am working on them I may have to introduce some OCs for them to be with or maybe pair them with some other heroes I'll have to do some research on that.

I will have to have a long hard think getting a body for Cortana, I could have Iron Man and Pym create a body for Cortana it could open up a whole world of possibilities for her and maybe she could engage in her feelings for someone *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* nah just kidding mate I'm not gonna do robot on human nookie, I may be a pervert but I'm not that sick minded.

Regarding the Black Widow pairing I am pushing for it but there are fans of the X-23 pairing, I am considering deleting her off the poll but I risk facing the wrath of certain fans out there so I am in a bit of a dilemma.

That's all the fan mail I'm going to do for now I'll get to the rest at the end of this chapter… maybe.

Now we begin the second chapter of this story;

_In an undisclosed location: HYDRA headquarters_

"Supreme Hydra, we have the report ready for your inspection"

Baron Von Strucker AKA Supreme Hydra turned in his high backed chair to face one of his many minions.

"Good, give it here" he said in his Prussian accent, the goon nervously gave the report to Strucker. Strucker took the file with his left hand as his… right hand was not really a hand but more of a clawed gauntlet that could drain people of their vitality, strength and energy and abilities.

The Baron read the file, it regarding the mysterious Spartan-117 and his cohorts, the technology they had interested Strucker very much and he wondered if he could 'persuade' them to share their tech and if not he would take it by force and have his scientists reverse engineer it. Then they would have no need for the Spartan and his allies unless they were turned into mindless servants.

After reading the file, Strucker pressed a button on his desk and said

"Viper, bring my top scientists to my office now, I need to ask them some questions about our progress with defensive technology"

"_At once, Supreme Hydra"_

Viper, an attractive but deadly and merciless woman led Strucker's top scientists to the office where Strucker was. Entering the door, Viper announced "We are here Supreme Hydra"

"Good, now then good doctors how is our progress going in regards to energy shielding?"

Strucker asked in a calm pleasant voice but only those who were new to HYDRA would think that he was being compassionate. That perception does not usually last long.

"Well sir, we have hit a rather difficult spot regarding energy shielding; it's just impossible, the energy technology we have just isn't going to cut it even with recent advancements sir" one scientist said nervously, obviously afraid for his life as he knew that the Supreme Hydra was not the kind of person to accept or tolerate failure. Those who did fail were removed, in a very permanent fashion.

Strucker gave a smile and said in a more pleasant voice but this time it had a chilling tone to it. That was more than enough to show to the people that what the man said was NOT what the man wanted or needed to hear.

"Well obviously the Spartan and his cohorts were able to develop their shielding technology so why not us?" Strucker said.

One scientist suggested her own thoughts, hoping that this would help them avoid inciting the wrath of their leader, and for her very own reasons.

"Well if we were to acquire the Spartan's technology we could study it and reverse engineer it for ourselves"

she said, Strucker smiled at her and said "Excellent suggestion doctor, in fact I have a way to capture our friend's attention, Viper!"

"Yes Supreme Hydra." Viper said standing to attention as she knew that the mission was now to be handed out.

"Mobilise our forces to attack New York I want them ready in three days' time! I want the Spartan's full attention than once he is out in the open I want all our forces to kill or capture him on sight. Make sure to take what you can of his technology intact for retrieval."

Strucker ordered and Viper gave her salute.

"At once sir!"

Unbeknownst to Strucker, Viper and everyone else in the room the conversation was being monitored by a certain AI.

_Later_

John was driving around the city in the Puma exploring the city and stopped by a pizzeria that he, Johnson and Miranda had been to before to get some lunch.

_Flashback_

"I'm going out" John said as he grabbed his keys for the Puma.

"Where to?" Miranda asked as she looked at the Spartan..

"Just out and around, I'm going to, as Cortana said 'get out there and mingle. Might as well get that over and done with so I can see what is the reason she is so insistent on it." John replied.

Johnson, who was nearby and currently enjoying his favourite cigar, smiled and said.

"Good for you Chief, we can put those rumours about Spartans to rest back home, so get out there and have fun Chief. Ya need advice from ol' Johnson, give me a call."

"I will" John said as he stepped out into the garage.

_End flashback_

John was wandering around Central Park taking in the sights. He was wearing deep blue jeans, black shirt and jacket with a pair of combat boots. Stopping by a hot dog stand for a hot dog and a coke, John was quietly eating his dog and downing his drink in silence when all of a sudden a blonde haired woman accidentally bumped into him.

_A few seconds before that_

Carol Danvers AKA Ms Marvel had gone out for a picnic on her day off with her friends Wanda Maximoff AKA Scarlet Witch, Ororo Munroe AKA Storm and Jennifer 'Jen' Walters AKA She-Hulk, they decided to go to Central Park for a picnic and had invited a few of the guys to come with them but the male Avengers were either too busy or not interested.

Carol, Storm and Wanda came dressed in casual civilian outfits, but Jen had insisted in coming in her Hulk form as she preferred it to her more normal form and dressed in her business suit with a mini skirt more than enough to catch any male interest.

The topic of conversation while they were walking had moved from a recent mission to an interesting topic: the Spartan.

"So what's everyone's take on the Spartan in the Avenger mansion?" Storm asked as she knew that the Avengers would be working on overtime concerning the man who battled Rhino alongside the others who were also unknown as well.

"Well Fury is on the warpath trying to find out from every government on the Planet who the Spartan is and see if he can get the guy on SHIELD for obvious reasons, Natasha's trying to calm Fury down, Cap is trying to play peacemaker, Clint is suspicious as before which is nothing new, Hercules wants to see if the Spartan is an actual Spartan, Thor is curious on how well the man can fight, and Tony and Pym want a crack at the Spartan's tech"

Carol replied as she knew that things were pretty hectic in the Avenger HQ Mansion.

Jen added her own two cents into the conversation as well, she was curious about the man as well and his cohorts. Though her attention was on the Spartan as she could not help but wonder just what he looked like underneath the armour and helmet.

"Yeah I heard even Reed wants a crack at this guy's tech, but what about Logan is he still on the warpath Storm?"

The Emerald Amazon asked the weather manipulator as she had been there to see Logan's reaction. She knew the X-Man enough to know that when he got riled, he was not going to be calming down until he dealt with it HIS way. That way naturally involving fists, threats and claws.

"Yes but he's calmed down considerably after Kitty, Rogue and Jubilee have talked him out of going after the Spartan but he still has his suspicions"

Storm replied.

"Not surprising to know, he always goes out like that."

Jen remarked dryly about the feral razor clawed mutant due to the many times he had tangled with her cousin when he was in Hulk form, Storm then went in defence of her fellow X-Man even though she also knew that Jen did have a point.

"Don't be too harsh on him, Logan has been through a lot in his life that he doesn't want happening to others, if Kitty, Rogue or Jubilee were ever in trouble, Logan would go through hell and back to bring them home safely"

Storm said and knew that they also knew it as well.

Carol was busy listening to Storm when she accidentally bumped into a tall well-built man, causing food and drink to spill on him.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!"

Carol said profusely before she took in the strangers face and when she did she did the impression of a gaping fish; Storm, Wanda and Jen were gaping as well.

The man's features were rugged and noble looking and chiselled to perfection, the brown hair was in a military cut and the eyes were a warm brown that spoke of confidence, pain, authority, strength and tragedy.

But it was the skin tone that caught the girls off guard; it was in a pale hue that was almost unnerving making him look like a living breathing Greek statue.

"I-I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to bump into you, I just wasn't looking where I was going!"

Carol stammered as she tried to get her thoughts back into working order, the stranger just brushed the mess off him, not showing an angry or annoyed face and said in a calm and relaxed fashion.

"It's alright, I wasn't looking where I was going either, so we're both at fault here"

"I could clean that up for you. I know a very good place that can handle messes like that" Carol offered, hoping to correct her mistake for ruining the guy's clothing.

"It's alright the shirt's washable, and I have spares after all back home." The stranger said.

"I-I'm Carol Danvers and I'm really sorry for getting that mess onto you..." Carol said, while trying to ignore her raging hormones. Not an easy feat since her eyes were zeroed in on the man.

"**Easy Carol, now's not the time to ogle a stranger you just got a mess on, maybe later when you get a phone number or address" **

She thought to herself.

"John Mendez-Halsey but everyone calls me Chief" John said to assure the woman, but he was already accessing his mental database on her name and it did not take long for him to find out who she was.

"**Carol Danvers also known as Ms Marvel so her other friends are…" **

"I'm Wanda" Wanda said holding out her hand to shake which John shook firmly while making sure NOT to use his full strength, that was something to avoid doing. **"Wanda Maximoff AKA Scarlet Witch, daughter of Magneto. One of the few Mutants in the world not being attacked directly by genetic racism due to her government service in the Avengers"**

John thought running through the information in his head again as he soon released Wanda's hand. But the Scarlet Witch had already gotten some measurements on the man's actions.

"**He's got some grip" **

Wanda thought as she looked at him, this was also when Storm offered her name as well to be courteous to the man who they just met "Ororo Munroe but everyone calls me Storm"

She said as she looked at the man once more as something about him seemed to be drawing her attention and no doubt that of the others as well, Jen not to be outdone offered her name as well

"My name's Jennifer but everyone calls me Jen but I'm sure you've heard of me and my other exploits" she said with a small smirk as her eyes raked John's handsome face as the Spartan took in the details as well as run through his mental database on her..

"**Oh god, Jen's got that look on her face when she sees a potential boy toy, but he does look like he could be fun"** Carol thought as she watched Jen check out John, unwilling to admit that she too was checking him out, along with both Wanda and Ororo.

John then deciding to take Cortana's advice to loosen up and put some humour into play

"Sorry I've never heard of you, are you an actress, model, singer or musician?" he asked with a straight face.

*Cough!* "What?" Jen choked until she saw the small smirk on John's face and she knew that she had been had. But she smiled since the guy was certainly good looking so no harm no foul.

"Oh you're good John I'll give you that"

she said with mirth giving him a small shove while at the same time took the opportunity to cope a feel, and boy was it worth it; Jen could feel steel hard muscle underneath the jacket and shirt and thought to herself. This guy certainly worked out and was as fit as a race horse.

"**Mmm, nice, rock hard and no doubt got some serious endurance."**

"Since we ruined your clothes and now that introductions have been made, would you like to join us for a picnic?" Wanda asked, hoping to get to know the man and to make a claim on him before Jen made a try for him along with the others.

John thought about it and replied "Well I did come all the way to Central Park for a day out, so why not?"

"Great" Carol said and added "Let's just grab some food and we can find a spot"

Buying some food from a local hot dog stand and finding a nice open table to sit at, Carol took the opportunity to find out a little bit more on their mysterious new friend who was definitely worth a look.

"So John, are you new to New York?" she asked

"Not especially, I've just been discharged from the Navy and looking to set myself up somewhere nice and quiet with my sister and godfather"

John replied, making use of his cover story and hoping that they bought it. No matter how good one's cover was, one mistake could always blow it sky high.

"Really? What rank were you?" Wanda asked curiously.

"I made it to the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer actually before I was discharged after a...very interesting service as one can phrase it." John replied.

"Really? But you look so young" Storm said as she knew that most members of that Naval rank were usually much older men. She was not very informed of Naval ranks but she had seen such men from time to time.

"I age well Miss Munroe, I'm 42 by the way despite how I might look." John replied as he took another bite of his food, he had a feeling that if the other Spartans saw this, especially Will and Kurt, they would have a lot to talk about.

John noticed an interested look in their eyes and said "I can tell that you're interested about my skin tone" he said neutrally

"Sorry, it's just I've never seen someone as pale as you, are you an albino or perhaps a mutant?"

Jen asked neutrally curious, John knew where this was going and gave her a neutral but non-threatening smile and answered.

"No Miss Walters, the simple answer is I've never gotten much sun in my life and I am not a mutant in any way, shape or form."

Storm asked a question she wished she did not need to ask but had to anyway as it could tell her if the man was trust worthy.

"Are you offended by Mutants?"

As much as she did not want to add that, she spoke it all with a slight edge to her voice, which Wanda, Carol and Jen took note of. This was always a hot issue for any of the mutant population as this led to more than intense debates.

"Not by all of them" John replied as he took another bite before adding the rest of his sentence as he knew the reason behind the question.

"Only by those who believe it is their right to abuse their powers for selfish, vindictive or petty gain but in the end they are only human so it is not their fault as humanity has its own spotty past and has a tendency to make itself its own worst enemy."

"That's a very interesting comment John what makes you say that?"

Carol asked as this was the first time someone spoke in that manner.

"If you look at humanity's history from dawn to now, people with genetic abnormalities have been around since the start of recorded history, but weren't as noticeable as today. The mutations were fairly understandable such as an extra toe or rib or smaller or larger stature than the norm yet they themselves are treated fairly and are under protection of the law. If they are to be termed in the same way as today's more unique mutants were due to their own genetic differences from baseline human beings, then why are they not being persecuted as well? What makes them different and not, according to those more vocal about mutants, 'freaks'? Aren't the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and Spiderman in the same category as the X-Men?"

John asked calmly as he continued to eat and drink a bit more, this was going to be an interesting time for him. But now that he got things going, no sense not finishing things off.

By now a small crowd had gathered to listen to John and one the crowd members said.

"But Spiderman and the Hulk don't have an X-gene so they aren't really mutants."

The crowd nodded in agreement but John already expected that as he had done his field research like any operative would.

"True, but don't they have something in their genetic code that sets them apart from normal humans? Just because they don't have an X-gene doesn't mean that their genetic codes aren't different from normal humans. Keep in mind that the Hulk was born in a nuclear blast, which by all rights would have easily killed or crippled any regular person. As for Spider-man, the events that gave him his powers should have been fatal, yet he survived and now here he is. The events that also gave the Fantastic Four their powers should have also been fatal in normal circumstances, yet they lived and have powers."

John replied as he too suspected that while they were not born with the X-gene, there had to be unique markers in their own DNA to have allowed them to survive.

"Interesting point there John, now that you put it in that point of view it makes sense since those events would have indeed killed normal people without something playing in to keep them alive."

Wanda said as she had seen the points there in the man's speech.

"But how come mutants like Magneto always try to attack normal humans?"

One of the crowd asked, The Spartan knew already how to properly answer that. He replied in a calm and relaxed fashion, and he began to show just what he knew of the mutants who were hostile to humans, with the one mentioned being the best example for that matter.

"Well how would you feel if you were treated as something not normal for being born in such way? For something in your gene code you couldn't control?"

No one could answer that question as it did strike them hard and John decided to speak out a bit more.

"In the case of Magneto, while I do not approve of his methods and what he speaks of, he does have some reason towards his actions. You have to recall that he had been born during the time of World War II, and he was merely a child and he was Jewish as well. We all know that at the time period that his fellow Jews were being persecuted and hunted down by the Germans at the time, and the inhuman actions of the Nazis at the time. The Jews were subjected to torture, inhumane experiments, mass starvation and malnutrition, beatings, extreme temperature tests and more. We know this but Magneto was there himself, and no doubt he too was subjected to such things as well before he and his people were liberated. No doubt that this had scarred him deeply and had been one of the possible reasons that he finally became who he was. He had seen the cruelty and inhumanity of people first hand all because the victims, himself included were 'not of the master race'. Now when he grew up, no doubt he tried to fit in, but the discrimination against his Jewish ancestry remained, but when he used his powers, he no doubt wondered just how people would react to it. He might have had some compassion and empathy for normal people in the past since it was the Allies who freed him and the countless other Nazi victims, but seeing that discrimination and hate did not abate, he felt that there might not be much hope in it."

"And when he saw that mutants were being hunted, hated, and persecuted, no doubt he felt that reasoning with normal people was impossible. If they were willing to be cruel, inhuman, and brutal to those who were like them, what would they do to mutants as well? And why should mutants be afraid of what they were born with? They had every right to live and breathe as any other life form. They have every right to defend themselves and fight back. Those thoughts were very much in Magneto's mind which is why he fights against normal people, because after all he experienced, he feels that as long as humans persecute mutants without care or reason, then someone should fight back."

John looked at the people as they began to get the idea that he was driving at, he also saw the same in the other heroes. He decided to wrap the whole thing up his own way.

"I don't approve of his methods, and his actions along with those of other mutants who fight normal people, but their reasoning should not be easily revoked just because of their status. When a child is born, that child does not have the ability to decide what gender it will be, how tall or short he or she will be, what hair colour he or she will have, what colour their eyes will be, will they be attractive or not, all of those things. No child has that ability at conception and therefore, none of them have the power to decide if they were going to be born with an X-gene or not, and the same can be said for their parents. Genetics is always unpredictable and we cannot decide how it will truly play out, and the same can be said for mutants as well. No doubt someday, people here in this very place will have children someday and there is always the possibility that one of them will be born with an X-gene. Do they have to be called monsters for something that they had no control over at conception? Do they deserve to be hunted down, mistreated, abused, experimented upon, or worse for something that they do not have any control over?"

"There is also the fact that no one takes into account HOW mutants themselves feel about their powers, I have no doubt that if we were to take away their powers and what physical effects and changes those powers had on them, we'd see regular people. They would want the many things people take for granted, a life of their own, a partner for them to spend their life with until they die, children, a home, the chance to work, you would even meet them in the street one day and after a chat or two, might find that they have something similar to what you like or dislike. There are possibly those who even wished to be born normal and to be able to be with people instead of being treated like 'freaks' or 'monsters'. Or there are those who are unable to handle the shock of discovering their powers that they contemplate committing suicide or do it outright. Most people think that mutants revel in their powers and no doubt some do, but I doubt other mutants see it that way. That is why one has to ask what mutants themselves think and feel towards their powers, their opinions might surprise us. That is why mutants such as the X-men deserve respect and understanding since they have used their powers for constructive reasons, and strive to make co-existence a possibility. And while mutants such as Magneto are dangerous and have committed dangerous acts towards the people, the reasons for their actions are not mindless and purposeless."

"And besides, if people continue to persecute mutants, then they were only going to create their own monsters."

Wanda raised an eyebrow at that as she and the others, Ororo herself were very intrigued by how John was explaining the way he saw things especially towards mutants. The probability altering mutant could not help but wonder how her father would feel if he met John and heard him speak.

"What do you mean?"

John swallowed his meal and then spoke again.

"You have to remember that as more and more mutants are persecuted and hated, there will come a time that they will all soon decide that enough is enough. There is only so much one can take before they finally decide to lash out and demand retribution. This is proven in the very fabric of human history, there is always a point that those who have been persecuted will rise up and fight back. You cannot expect that those who are born with the X-gene to just let it happen. There is a story I heard of in my travels and service days of a family who had a mute daughter who had a child out of wedlock, out of fear, lack of knowledge, and distrust, they locked her in the basement. This daughter gave birth to a boy who was born normal, healthy, and able to speak but he was born in the darkness, lack of sound, and his mother had no knowledge on how to care for her child. Naturally as time passed, the child became feral, aggressive, and utterly uncontrollable, and when child services eventually discovered him and his mother, the child was already sixteen years old. But his growth and mentality had been so stunted and weak that he lashed out without hesitation at anything and anyone. Some were badly hurt and it took several hours for the people to subdue and heal him."

"It took years but eventually the boy was able to mentally recover and become a regular and healthy young man, but the emotional and mental scars were always there. That by the way was a child who was not born with an X-gene. By maltreating and abusing mutants who have no idea why they are being treated as such, they will naturally reach the point that if humanity sees them as monsters and enemies for no reason, then they will be more than willing to oblige them. Remember that humanity has its own monsters...Adolf Hitler is a prime example, and so would Doctor Doom, Kingpin, and The Red Skull, none of them had the X-gene but they had committed acts that would only be described as monstrous and they were in full control of themselves as well. Mutants do not have control of what their powers are and what effects they would have, so why would they be hunted for that? Because if you say that those men are human because they do not have an X-gene while mutants are monsters for having it, then you certainly need to really re-evaluate what defines a person's humanity. If they are the ones who symbolize humanity, I personally want no part of it."

John then crushed the wrapper and finished his drink as he closed his argument.

"In simple terms, it all boils down to how mutants are treated. If they are treated with respect and given the chance to learn how to control and use their powers responsibly by people and given a place to be with others to not feel alone then there is a chance that there will be co-existence. Not perfect co-existence to be sure, but it is there. But if mutants are treated as inhuman monsters and shown fear, hatred, and discrimination, then do not be surprised that they will eventually have enough and fight back, if you treat them as monsters and enemies, they WILL become the very monsters and enemies you think they will be."

Everyone was wide eyed and shocked and in deep thought and Carol said.

"I have to admit...all of what you said makes excellent sense, I've also got to admit that I have to re-think about how I see myself in regards to my powers and those around me."

She said as she took in John's words.

"I believe the term 'Walk a mile in another's shoes' is the one you're looking for Miss Danvers" John said before a ringing hit his ears.

Mentally commanding the nanomites to send the call to his mobile phone which rang, John picked up his phone and said "Mendez here"_ "Chief it's Cortana, I picked up something that could be of interest, head back to base ASAP"_ "I'm on my way" John replied before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Wanda asked, John replied "My sister, she needs my help with something and is always calling me at inopportune moments"

"Does this mean you have to go now?" Jen asked as she was enjoying John's company and wanting to hear more of his thoughts. Not every day one ran into a man who was not only great looking but very insightful and smart as well as interesting to boot.

"Unfortunately yes I-" a beeping from John's key ring interrupted him, he already knew that meant and it annoyed the hell out of him.

Giving a sigh John said "Excuse me ladies, but someone is trying to steal my car… again" before leaving, a few seconds and the girls were soon following John to the parking lot.

As soon as John reached the Puma, he was greeted by the sight of a street gang of thugs, all of them well built and trying to open the jeep's door and hot wire it, thankfully, thanks to Cortana and Courage, the Puma was built to be thief and hotwire proof.

"I'd appreciate it if you would stop doing that." John said getting the thugs' attention.

"Well lookie here, we got wannabe 'superhero' boys" one thug said the thugs then got into a semi-circle facing John, John knew that this was going to blow up and shit was going to hit the fan and it wouldn't end well for the thugs. He did not have to have the MJOLNIR on to beat these people into the grave as two dead ODSTs back in the UNSC Carrier Atlas could swear to.

"Look I'm not looking for a fight so I'm giving you one chance to walk away, otherwise things will get serious" John said in a calm tone but with a warning undertone.

The leader of the thugs, either over-confident or plain stupid, said "How 'bout you give us the keys and we'll leave you alone you like that deal white boy?"

"I'm sorry I cannot do that so I'm giving you another chance to walk away or things will not end well for you" John said calmly.

"How 'bout fuck you! You like that mother-ugh!" the thug leader didn't see the fist that hit him square in the face, knocking him out cold.

"Shit!"

"Damn!"

"What the fuck!"

Those were the reactions of the remaining thugs who saw their leader go down, John looked at them with an arched eyebrow, the thugs stupidly brought out weapons; a steel pipe, a wooden board and a flick knife.

Surrounding John in a circle, the thugs readied their weapons, it was at that point Jen, Wanda, Storm and Carol came onto the scene.

Seeing the danger John was in Storm said "We have to help him!" she said "Wait, let's see how this turns out" Carol said observing John's stance.

The thug armed with the steel pipe made a move, with an overhead swing, John easily sidestepped it and aimed a kick to the thug's abdomen, while not using full strength it was enough to wind the thug and send him to the ground wheezing.

The next thug was armed with a wooden board charged with absolute recklessness and walked straight into John's fist, breaking his front teeth and nose, blood now running from his nose.

John turned to the last thug armed with a flick knife and fixed him with a cold stare, the thug lost his nerve and ran.

"Whoa! Did you see that? John, who taught you how to fight like that?"

Wanda exclaimed as she and the girls walked up to John, observing his handiwork. Sure they had seen martial arts before, and having been around Super Soldiers like Cap, but never that fluidly before.

"Basic training was very thorough, and I always did have good teachers." John replied, inspecting the Puma for any damage the thugs caused; thankfully the thugs didn't do any real damage.

Jen's eyes were wide at the sight of the Puma and she asked "John I have two questions for you; where did you get it? And where can I get one?"

John smirked and said "It's a custom made jeep built from scratch and I'm sorry but I've been sworn to secrecy on where I got it from"

"Well if you can't tell me where you got it, can you give us a ride?" Jen asked hopefully "Where you headed?" John asked.

"Just take us to Westchester to Charles Xavier's Institute" Wanda said, "But…" Carol started before being cut off by Jen who said "Carol you need to relax more and besides I'm sure the guys at the Institute would love to see you" "Yeah I guess" Carol replied, but in her head she hoped Rogue wasn't there as it always got a little awkward around her remembering the time she lost her powers to the southern mutant.

John thought about it and said "It shouldn't be too far out of my way, hop in" so the girls got in the car, with Jen taking the front passenger seat so she could be closer to John to which Carol, Wanda and Storm silently fumed at and they each vowed to get their chance to be closer to John.

Starting up the Puma, the jeep gave a powerful vibrating growl as the engine revved, Jen said excitedly "This is gonna be good."

About three quarters of an hour later, the Puma arrived at Charles Xavier's Institute, pulling up to the gate where a speaker sounded out a woman's cheerful voice _"Hello and welcome to Charles Xavier's Institute for the gifted, how may I help you?"_ "Hello I'm John Mendez-Halsey and I'm dropping off Miss Munroe and her friends here at the Institute" John said to the speaker.

The woman's voice over the speaker then said _"Please wait a moment and the gates will open and just pull up in front of the building"_ The gates slid open and John drove the jeep up in front of the building, John looked at all of his passengers; Jen had a big grin on her face, Storm had her eyes closed and was muttering something in her native tongue, Wanda was shaking and Carol looked slightly green around the gills.

"I'm sorry if my driving affected you in any way, it's just a remnant of career you could say" John said apologetically Jen exclaimed happily "Are you kidding me? That was so much fun I haven't felt that excited since my last mission" Wanda got of the jeep with slightly wobbly legs as she said "It was a very… unique ride John I can say that" John helped her out of the jeep and sat her gently down on the grass and went to help Storm which ignited something in Wanda as she saw John help Storm out of the jeep.

Jen noticed the look on Wanda's face and asked teasingly "Why Wanda, have you got your heart set on our chauffeur?" "What makes you think that?" Wanda asked defensively, Jen gave a knowing grin.

Storm was helped out of the jeep and she couldn't help but breath in John's scent; it was a clean smell but definitely masculine and it made Storm's mouth water. Setting down Storm down on the grass, John helped Carol, who was still a little green around the gills.

"Thank you John for the ride" Carol said "I'm sorry if my driving disconcerted you, it's just a remnant of my former career you could say but if it's any consolation I had my eyes closed during the tight corners too" John said with a small smile on his lips.

Carol gave a shaky smile and replied "With the way you drive I believe it." At the front door a young woman in her late teens with green eyes and short red hair wearing clothes one would expect of a school teacher, along with a tall blonde haired woman wearing white and a short but muscular man who had a wild untamed feral look to him wearing jeans and a muscle shirt holding a bottle of beer in one hand observed John helping the ladies up off the grass.

John took notice of the new arrivals at the door and went through the information he had on them at first glance; the young woman with the red hair was Rachel Grey, the daughter of Jean Grey and Scott Summers from an alternate timeline, though how that happened was beyond him. The second woman wearing white and blonde hair John identified as Emma Frost AKA the White Queen a mutant telepath who was once part of the Hellfire Club of mutants but defected to join the X-Men and was currently married to Rachel's father. The last person John identified as the mutant Logan AKA Wolverine, the information John had on Logan said that Logan was very protective of the Institute and its students, not to mention the fact he happened to be quite the trouble maker and had a dislike for black ops, no doubt from the Weapon X Program.

Rachel took notice of John and thought to herself **"Not a bad looking man"** she thought and went forward to greet the man "Hello Mr Mendez and welcome to the Institute I'm Rachel Grey, how may we help you today?" Rachel asked, John replied "Just came here to drop off Miss Munroe and her friends" then John felt a subtle nudging on his mind as if someone was trying to see into his mind, John put a hand to his head and gave a slight grimace.

Rachel, Logan and Storm took notice of this and directed a look at Emma with Rachel being the one to make the move clear; **"Cut it out Frost, now is not the time for this"**

Rachel sent to the blonde haired telepath **"I'm only confirming if this man is safe for us to be around dear." **

Emma sent back, Rachel knew that Emma did have a point but she was not the mood to have a situation escalate out of control. **"He brought Storm home safely that doesn't allow you to read his mind, so cut it out or you'll see how much of my mother is in me."**

Rachel sent back with a red glow surrounding the outlines of her eyes.

Everyone can see that Emma is tempting the hornets' nest again, but Emma wasn't alone in appraising John, Logan had a calculating look in his eyes, trying to determine if John was safe to be around.

John took notice of this and said "I'm sorry I didn't get your name Mr?" "Logan will do" the feral mutant replied putting his hand out to shake John's, John politely shook Logan's hand.

Logan gave a grunt and said "You got some grip, you in the military or something?" he asked, John replied "Ex-Navy but I still work out, habits and all" Logan nodded and said

"Know how it is, nice ride by the way, is it custom made?" he asked as he had to admire the design, he was a motorcycle man to the bone, but this ride was definitely good on the eyes.

John nodded and said calmly.

"Yes and I've been sworn to secrecy on where I got it" John then directed his attention to Emma and said "I didn't quite get your name ma'am" "I did not give it, Emma Frost" Emma said in her most cordial voice.

"Well now that introductions have been made, would you like to come in Mr Mendez?"

Rachel asked cheerfully John gave a small smile and said "Unfortunately no I have to get back home, my sister tends to get grumpy if I'm gone for too long" John said and added "But it was pleasure to meet you all, I bid you good day and I hope to see you again in the near future" he said before turning to head back to the Puma.

Getting in and starting up the jeep, John made his way out the gate and headed back to base.

Wanda remarked as soon as John left "A very interesting man, but he is a little reserved"

Logan growled "There's something wrong with him" everyone turned to look at him, and he was more than willing to oblige them.

"He smells strange" Logan elaborated,

"You say that about everyone" Jen said

"And I'm right most of the time Walters" Logan rebutted

"I agree with you there Logan, something is not right about that man" Emma said, her eyes narrowed.

"Doesn't deter the fact that he's one fine piece of man-candy, right girls?" Jen said to the girls with a wolfish grin on her face, Wanda agreed, Carol stuttered a bit, Storm and Rachel blushed, and Emma rolled her eyes whilst Logan muttered something about getting another beer.

_Back at the UNSC estate_

John walked into the kitchen where he found Miranda, Johnson and Thel sitting at the table, Thel in his own custom made chair designed to support his weight and a nearby holotank.

Cortana's image showed on the holotank and she asked "There you are where exactly have you been?" "Just around and I had an encounter with some heroes in civilian mode" John replied sitting down at the table.

"What were their names? And were they pretty?" Cortana asked in childish amusement, hearing John met female company was cause for her to get mischievous.

"Cortana, the debrief" John said finally not giving anything away, Cortana made a note to look at the Puma's video recorder later.

"I was monitoring the satellites and typical information gathering when I picked up this from the headquarters of the organisation known as HYDRA" Cortana said beginning her report, bringing up the video of Strucker talking to his scientists and second in command Viper and his orders to attack New York.

"What can you tell us about Strucker?" Miranda asked.

"Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker, formerly a Nazi and the leader of HYDRA since the beginning of World War 2, he was treated with a formula that pretty much halted his cellular aging process leaving him in the prime of his life, he's used funds from his days as a Nazi to fund his organisation to the current day" Cortana said "For weaponry Strucker uses typical firearms, a fencing rapier and a weapon known as the Satan Claw; a gauntlet that allows Strucker to drain the life force from victims and one of the reasons he's been around so long, he is number one on SHIELDs wanted list" Cortana added.

"What does HYDRA want with us?" Thel asked, as he was curious what this human organization wanted from them, though he had a feeling as to what.

"They more or less heard about us and want our technology for their own ends and they plan to attack New York in three days' time in order to draw us out and when we're out in the open they'll use any methods to bring us in" Cortana answered.

Johnson asked Miranda "Your orders Ma'am?"

Miranda replied "We can't ignore this, we have to engage HYDRA and make them see what they're dealing with, Cortana contact the Avengers, SHIELD, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four about this they need to know about this attack" she ordered, "Already on it Commander" Cortana replied.

_A few hours later_

The signal at the Avengers Mansion went off and everyone rushed to the communication room to be contacted by Nick Fury, the X-men and the Fantastic Four.

"Fury, what's happening?" Tony asked _"Got a message from an unknown source, it's not hostile, whoever it is they just want to get our attention"_ Nick's image said _"I'll let the message in now."_

A few seconds and the image of the Spartan, Johnson in ODST armour and the Arbiter and Miranda in ODST armour greeted the Avenger's eyes.

"_Greetings"_ The one identified as the Spartan said, "Hello to you too Spartan, I see you're in full combat gear, may I ask why?"

Tony asked as he eyed the gear more intently. There was nothing to point out the manufacturer, but he was impressed by the looks of it all.

"_It's just a precaution, but to the point, our sources and intelligence gathering has brought up something that caught our interest"_ the Spartan said

"_May I ask what it is?"_ Nick's image asked as the man was in the mood to get answers, plus find out just HOW they got into SHIELD's comm. systems.

"_You may not believe us, but HYDRA plans to attack New York in three days' time"_ the shorter of the four armoured figures said "

May I ask who you are?" Clint asked suspiciously _"My apologies, you may refer to me as Albatross"_ Albatross said.

"_How did you come by this information?"_ Reed asked, curious, _"We were monitoring the communications and we just happened to come by this knowledge"_

Albatross said _"We thought it best to warn you in advance"_ she added.

"Is there any reason as to why HYDRA is attacking New York?" Steve asked _"it more or less has to do with my team here; Strucker heard of us and our technology and wishes to acquire it for his own ends" _

Albatross said _"So they're attacking New York to draw my team out, we may have powerful weaponry and tech, but that won't be enough which is why we contacted you all in order to ask for your help. We naturally have no desire to have New York turned into a warzone just for the sake of HYDRA getting new tech regardless of the lives they intent to take."_ Albatross added.

Logan still suspicious said _"Yeah? And how do we know that you're not feeding us bullshit to draw us out to take us out, 'cause frankly I don't trust you guys one bit"_ he said

"_Logan"_ Scott said irritably even though he had to admit that Logan's reasoning was not off the mark.

The Spartan took over from Albatross and said _"We are not lying when we tell you this, we have nothing to gain from it, we simply deemed it necessary to inform you all of the attack and to gather allies to fend off this invasion"_ he said

"_Alright, but after this thing with HYDRA is over, I want some answers as to who you are and where you come from" _Nick said.

"_You'll get those answers soon enough General Fury but not a moment sooner as you may be higher rank than me, but you do not have the authority or clearance to demand answers from us" _Albatross said with obvious finality and was not going to say anything else.

"Wait how do we know you'll be there for the battle?" Tony asked _"We'll meet you on that floating base you call the Helicarrier"_ Albatross said and the communication was cut.

Clint, trying hard not to laugh at the look on Nick's face, asked "So Nick what do we do now?"

"_We'll just have to take their word for it but at least we now know what HYDRA's up to and we have time to prepare, so rest up people, we're gonna have a long three days ahead of us"_ Nick said while trying not to show his irritation at Albatross's putdown.

The next two days were spent preparing defences for the coming attack from HYDRA; the Avengers, X-Men and the Fantastic Four spent those days training non-stop and mentally preparing themselves for the coming battle, Nick Fury had SHIELD prepare defences all over New York.

The UNSC crew trained and prepared themselves for the coming battle; John took the opportunity to physically train and run maintenance checks on his armour, Thel meditated, mentally preparing himself, Johnson took the time to run checks over their weaponry, Cortana and Courage monitored HYDRAs battle plans and Miranda prepared the Dawn for any coming battles.

The Third Day: the Eve of Battle

The Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four and Nick had assembled on the landing platform of the Helicarrier. Everyone was in their battle gear/ costumes and were ready for the battle, only people missing were the Spartan, the Arbiter, Albatross, and the Sarge.

"So Nick how exactly do we know that the Spartan and the rest of his crew will turn up and fight HYDRA or are they leave us all hanging?" Clint asked

"I think we'll know soon enough" Nick replied.

Natasha then saw something in the sky and said out loud "Everyone, look, up in the sky"

Everyone craned their necks to see an unidentified flying vehicle making its way towards the Helicarrier.

A voice in Nick's communication ear piece asked _"Sir, an unidentified aircraft is making its way to the Carrier, it doesn't look like HYDRA, orders sir?"_

Nick said "Stand down, I think it's our friend the Spartan, ok everyone make some space and let this thing land"

He barked and everyone moved out of the way to make space for the aircraft. And as soon as it got closer, they all took a very good look at it.

It was definitely military looking but the vehicle didn't correspond with any military vehicles Steve had seen in his life, both Earth make and alien make.

The vehicle then detracted its landing gear on the landing platform and the back hatch door opened and there stood the Spartan, the Sarge and the Arbiter in their glory.

John and Johnson moved towards Nick and Steve and gave a crisp salute which Nick and Steve returned. The two were so used to dealing with those who either did not know or care for military customs that being saluted was the last thing they had on their minds.

Nick remarked "Been awhile since I did that, so what's the plan Spartan? How do we do this?" he asked as this would give him some idea on how this guy and his team operated.

John replied "According to our intelligence, HYDRA will first attack by air, then by deploying assault vehicles and ground troops that will come in from the sea, so advise that you deploy all airborne heroes and vehicle to engage the airborne attack and send the rest of your troops and ground heroes down on the ground near the ports, docks and beach to counter HYDRA's ground forces" John said in crisp fashion.

"What about HYDRA's assault vehicles?" Steve asked to which John replied

"We'll send our own assault vehicles and your heavy hitter heroes after them" he said as he knew that the teams had plenty of those. Johnson and Thel could handle that part soon enough.

Scott interjected and said "A pretty sound plan, do you think it'll work?" "There's an old saying 'No plan survives first contact with the enemy'" John said, everyone looked at John worried look on all their faces,

Johnson gave a chuckle and said "Don't worry, Chief's only joking, it'll work. I've seen him work with far less and he still wipes the floor with the bad guys in time for lunch in the mess hall."

"Spartan, where will you be during this attack?" Nick asked as he looked at the man and ran the plan over his head a few times.

"I'll be on the ground, Arbiter will take the air and the Sergeant will take the assault vehicles" John replied.

"Well if you're gonna be on the ground, take Widow, She-Hulk and Rogers with you, they'll be helping you out on this" Nick said as Natasha, Jen and Steve stepped forward beside John.

Logan stepped forward and growled "I'm comin' with you too Spartan and there's not a thing you can say about it"

John nodded and replied as he expected that Logan would want to keep an eye on him. As long as those claws were aimed at the HYDRA forces, he could care less. "Understood, try to keep up, Arbiter who will you take?"

He asked his ally as the tall Sangheili surveyed the heroes as well.

Thel looked at the assembled heroes and said "I will take the ones known as Thor, Ms Marvel and Iron Man with me on this mission Demon."

He said, Thor remarked "I am honoured to fight by your side Arbiter" Carol said "Bring it on" "Ready to rumble" Tony said.

Nick took Natasha to the side and whispered "Keep your eye on the Spartan, I wanna know everything & anything you can find out about him and if you can get him to take off his helmet and see his face, do it, record everything."

"Yes sir" Natasha replied.

Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Giant-Man stepped up to join Johnson to lead the attack against HYDRA's assault vehicles. With the word from Nick everyone moved out to their battle stations.

_Half an hour later_

John, armed with an assault rifle, gravity hammer, shotgun and a pair of energy swords, was at the docks with Jen, Steve and Natasha along with some SHIELD ground troops waiting for the impending attack, naturally it was not going to be long before someone asked a question. And naturally being the extrovert that she was, it was She-Hulk who got the ball rolling.

"So Spartan, can you tell us where you come from or what organisation you're with?" Jen asked as she was curious about the man.

"Let's just say that I'm not from around here" John replied not giving anything away as he knew that while Jen did not have any ulterior motives yet, there was going to be someone else who would pick up the slack.

"So you're an alien? Or are you from the future?" Steve asked as he could feel down to the marrow of his bones that the man he was working with was a super soldier.

"Alien, no but the future is close but not quite there yet." John replied.

"Are you some kind of super-soldier like Captain America?" Natasha asked.

"You have hit the mark Ma'am though more advanced, but sorry I can't say any more than that because of confidentiality of the Program I was part of."

John said telling the truth, he might not be in his reality but he was going to stick to his training and ONI secrecy. Even if the Spartan II Program was made public to boost morale in the UNSC, that was only the general details, not the more intimate, morally and ethically questionable details. The ONLY time he was going to tell anyone here his past was when he was ready, and not before.

Natasha fumed silently inside; she was hoping to get more out of their mysterious ally. But she could tell that prodding the issue was not going to be productive and could antagonize the man.

John looked at his radar and sure enough some blips came up on it, "Heads up everyone, we've got incoming" he said, readying his assault rifle. Flying assault vehicles came flying in, John identified them as HYDRA make and shape.

"Arbiter, you've got a dozen squadrons of HYDRA bogies heading your way, intercept them"

John said over his private comm _"Understood, intercepting now"_ came Thel's reply; John, Natasha, Steve and Jen caught sight of a Banshee, Iron Man, Thor and Ms Marvel along with SHIELD fighter planes flying towards the HYDRA squadrons.

Tony did a quick scan of the Banshee vehicle and the reading shocked him, "Reed take a look at these readings"

Tony said over his comm link to Reed.

Reed looked at the readings sent to him on his computer tablet and looked at the readings

"What? No way, according to these readings the Arbiter's vehicle is using a combination of fusion and plasma energy"

He said in shock as the implications were huge.

"_I know and our scientists and even us have yet to make fusion or plasma energy sources or even engines"_ Tony replied over the comm _"What other secrets are they hiding?"_ Tony asked rhetorically.

Thel gave a battle cry and began firing upon the HYDRA vehicles which returned fire, rounds bounced off the improved armour plating of the Banshee; Thor whirled Mjolnir and summoned thunder, lightning and wind to knock HYDRA vehicles off course, making them crash into one another, Carol fired energy beams from her hands whilst Tony made use of his repulsors, some of the HYDRA flying vehicles got through only to be met by SHIELD fighter planes who shot them down.

Larger flying vehicles came in, which John identified as troop transports, which began to set down whilst HYDRA fighter planes kept any flying heroes and the Arbiter busy.

"Heads up people, we've got incoming" John said readying his assault rifle flicking off the safety, Steve readied his shield, Logan unsheathed his claws with a snickt, Jen cracked her knuckles and Natasha readied her wrist blasters and pistols.

The first wave of HYDRA goons wearing the HYDRA uniform consisting of green jumpsuits with a yellow harness in the shape of a capital H came running in armed with medium range machine guns and began firing upon John and the heroes.

John's shield flickered as bullets began hitting the shields but due to the inferior quality of the time period's firearm rounds the rounds didn't do much, only a sliver of the shields went down.

Natasha began to fire her wrist blasters at the HYDRA goons, downing a few, Steve used his shield to deflect bullets and then threw the shield making it ricochet off three bad guys before the shield went flying back into Steve's hand, Jen began to grab debris and toss them at high speeds at the terrorists whilst John began to fire his assault rifle at the HYDRA terrorists aiming for the most vulnerable parts of their bodies such as legs, arms and heads.

"I'd prefer that you leave some of the HYDRA foot soldiers alive for questioning" Steve said delivering a round house kick to a nearby terrorist who had been stupid enough to get close

"I would do that but they don't seem to be interested in coming quietly" John replied as he loaded a fresh clip into the butt of his rifle, Steve took note of how John seemed to move with grace and fluidity and accuracy, far greater than any human the Steve had seen, making him wonder if the Spartan was a machine or a robot.

Another wave of HYDRA foot soldiers came along with HYDRA dreadnoughts, HYDRA dreadnoughts being robotic machines that used heavy weaponry such as heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

Seeing his assault rifle wouldn't do any good against the dreadnoughts, John switched to his gravity hammer and charged forward, Jen cried out "Are you crazy? You'll be shredded to pieces!" she yelled.

John dodged the heavy weapons fire and gripped the hammer tighter and applied the power setting; leaping onto a dreadnought, John swung the hammer in a downward swing, the resulting force crushed the dreadnought as the force of the warped gravity made the inferior metal buckle and tear and send pieces of mechanical and metal pieces flying.

"Did you just see that?" Jen asked Natasha and Steve, "I'm seeing it, but I don't believe it" Steve said, Natasha nodded as well. More HYDRA terrorists came into the fight and the fight was back in full swing.

Soon HYDRA land vehicles came into play; large almost skyscraper sized assault vehicles in the shape of the HYDRA emblem which was a skull with tentacles armed with high velocity cannons and other assorted weaponry began to fire upon buildings and the civilian population.

John contacted the Sergeant Major, "Sergeant, HYDRA has sent in their assault vehicles, you need to take them out"

"_Already on it Chief! Time for me to bring out some HE-spewing metal to kick some HYDRA ass!"_

Johnson had called in one of the UNSC battle tanks or Scorpions as they were known; Clint, Mockingbird and Pym looked at the vehicle in amazement as the vehicle was unlike any tank they had seen before. "What is that thing?"

Clint asked Johnson replied with pride and a very intense gleam in his eyes.

"This here is 66-tons of straight up HE spewing dee-vine intervention also known as the Scorpion and it's got a mean sting to boot. And now it's time for these wannabe Hydras to get said sting right up their cornholes!"

He said with a smirk.

"Any of you greenhorns wanna hitch a ride?"

Johnson asked the heroes and soldiers in the area, receiving nothing Johnson smirked and said.

"No takers eh? Guess I'll ride alone and show you how I kick ass with this beauty of a beast."

Getting into the Scorpion's driver seat, Johnson started up the engines and the Scorpion's systems came online.

"_Alright people let's move out!"_ Johnson said over the Scorpion's speaker systems, with a rumble the Scorpion towards the HDYRA assault vehicles and the heroes, National Guard & SHIELD soldiers moved as well.

Coming up to the first HYDRA vehicle, Johnson contacted Cortana

"Hey Cortana, I got me a large metal octopus here and I was wondering where I have to hit to make it stay down and get me some smoking metal seafood, got any leads?" He asked the AI and Cortana replied

"_The 'eyes' of your octopus are the most vulnerable spot as they act of the sensors of the machine and the underside of where the legs join the head are vulnerable as well"_

"Thanks Cortana, will do" Johnson said thanking the Smart AI.

With a burst of speed, Johnson manoeuvred the Scorpion near the legs of the 'octopus' and levelled the barrel of the cannon and aimed whilst the heroes and soldiers began firing upon the HYDRA vehicle, Hawkeye fired explosive tipped arrows with great precision at the legs of the 'octopus' causing some damage, the national guard and SHIELD soldiers used the weaponry to futilely make small dents and holes in the armour plating.

Johnson aimed the cannon and engaged the firing action; with a large crack and boom the advanced UNSC explosive round tore through the air with a scream and hit the underside of the octopus' head, causing an almighty explosion with destroyed the HYDRA weapon, Johnson laughed and shouted out.

"_Hey! You overgrown metallic wuss, I am talking to you! How does THAT strike YA?"_

Hawkeye remarked slack jawed "Damn, now that's what I call firepower."

He said making sure his hidden video recorder recorded everything he was seeing.

"_Alright you greenhorns stop being slack jawed and let's keep going! These guys aren't going to shoot themselves!"_

Johnson ordered over the speakers and began to move to the next area of the city where the rest of the HYDRA assault vehicles were.

"Rargh!" Logan roared as he slashed a terrorist's weapon in two before slamming his elbow into the face of said terrorist, "Logan calm yourself!" Steve said as he launched his shield at some terrorists but Logan was not listening.

"I hate HYDRA! I hate 'em!" Logan snarled as he slashed at another unfortunate HYDRA terrorist maiming him for life, Steve sighed as he continued fighting and he contacted the rest of the X-Men

"Cyclops, Logan's on the rampage again" he said receiving a reply from Scott who said with the sounds of explosions and screams all over the place. _"What do you want me to do about it? I'm busy!" _

Storm was in the air alongside the heroes who could fly and launched lightning from the clouds to take down some HYDRA fighter planes taking a moment to observe the Arbiter in his strange vehicle what was called a Banshee; it moved with far greater grace and speed than a regular fighter plane so it was possibly of alien make and design.

The weaponry it had was definitely not of human origin, it seemed to using energy based weaponry most likely plasma which was beyond anything that current scientists could make let alone design.

Johnny was in fire mode flying around, launching fireballs at enemy fighter planes, setting them alight and was contacted by Reed, _"Johnny, how is everything up there?"_ Reed asked,

"Pretty good so far, we're keeping HYDRA's fighters occupied but they just keep coming any ideas?" he asked, as much as this was getting good, he did keep in mind that people's lives were at stake.

Reed took a moment and replied _"We're going to have to find Strucker and capture to force a surrender I'll get in contact with Fury and let him know of the plan, just keep HYDRA busy Johnny" _

"Will do, thanks" Johnny said before dodging a missile and retaliated with a large fireball.

Nick Fury was on the Helicarrier at the controls when he was contacted by Reed "Dr Richards, this better be good, I'm in the middle of a war here." he said as he looked at the tactical displays as well as the hidden feeds from those who were with the UNSC.

"_Well we're managing to hold HYDRA forces at bay, but this can't go on forever we need to find Strucker and force him to surrender"_ Reed said

"I know can you get in contact with the Spartan? He may have an idea where Strucker is so we can take this guy out."

Nick said _"I'm not sure I'll be able to get a hold of the Spartan's signal, I have no idea how his tech works"_ Reed said, unbeknownst to the two the conversation was being monitored by an advanced AI.

Hardened Courage was monitoring communications, both friendly and unfriendly, when he came across the conversation between Reed and Nick, "I must inform the Reclaimer of this" Courage thought and sent a signal to John's private comm link.

"Reclaimer, I have intercepted a conversation between General Fury and the one designated Mr Fantastic, they wish to contact you" Courage said, John replied as he shot at more HYDRA terrorists, "Patch me through Courage"

A signal hit the Helicarrier's communication relay as Nick and Reed talked, "What the hell is going on now?" Nick said _"General Fury you wished to contact me?"_ came the Spartan's voice.

"That I did Spartan, how did you know?" Nick asked, curious to see how the Spartan knew, _"We have very good communications monitoring, Sir, what is it you wish to discuss?"_ the Spartan asked.

"Dr Richards and I were just discussing how to find Strucker, capture him and force him to surrender, & we were hoping you had an idea where to find him, any ideas?"

Nick asked, _"My team and I can intercept HYDRA's communications and try and pinpoint Strucker's location and we'll go from there Sir and we'll let you know if we want any of your team to come with us"_ the Spartan said, "Understood, keep me in the loop, General Fury out" Nick said cutting off the feed, going back to monitoring the battles going around the city.

John reloaded his assault rifle with another clip as his energy shields flickered as rounds and debris hit it.

"Commander, I've just spoken with General Fury and come up with the idea to find Strucker and capture him to force a surrender" John said sending a message to Miranda on the Dawn.

Miranda received the message and said to Cortana and Courage "Cortana, Courage, intercept any HYDRA communications and triangulate the signal to find Strucker, we need to end this battle before it gets out of hand" she barked with military precision.

"Already on it Commander"

"At once Reclaimer"

Miranda then said to John "I have Cortana and Courage searching for any communications that lead to Strucker, when we find him, we'll send you the location Chief"

"_Understood Ma'am"_ came John's reply.

Thel flew through the air at speed with great precision, firing the plasma repeaters at HYDRA fighter planes and fired the fuel rod cannon at HYDRA troop transports to prevent them from deploying more troops.

Ever since finding out how humanity were the Forerunners inheritors and successors, Thel was reluctant to kill humans ever again but the HYDRA organisation was undoubtedly evil and needed to be stopped even it meant loss of human life Thel told himself and continued his airborne mission.

Hearing an incoming signal on his comm link, Thel identified it from Miranda and opened up the channel.

"Yes Commander Keyes, what is it?" Thel asked.

"_Just wanted to ask you a question regarding HYDRA, we've come up with a plan to find Strucker and capture him to force surrender, do you see any HYDRA air ships that could be used as a command centre?"_ Miranda asked.

Thel took a moment to observe any of the HYDRA airships and replied "There are three large airships that are heavily guarded, perhaps Strucker is hiding in one of the three" the Sangheilian said.

"_Understood, I have Cortana and Courage monitoring HYDRA communications, I'll let you, Johnson and the Chief know if we find him, Albatross out"_ Miranda replied.

John had switched from his assault rifle to his shotgun and was firing on HYDRA bogies who got in close, firing with great precision at the vulnerable parts of their bodies, one HYDRA terrorist threw a grenade near John and the heroes.

Natasha yelled a warning "Grenade!" she yelled, Natasha, Jen jumped away from the explosion, Steve used his shield to block the blast, whilst John locked his armour.

The explosion drowned out the hearing sensors of John's armour but otherwise John was intact albeit his shield meter was down a small chunk, but other John was fine.

Steve, Nat and Jen looked at John, & Jen was the first one to say something "No way, that explosion should've killed you!" she exclaimed and then asked "How good are those shields of yours?"

John unlocked his armour and replied "Good enough, but now's not the time for this, we need to find Strucker and force him to surrender" he said while reloading his shotgun.

Steve said "Agreed, is there anyway your tech can track him?" the Sentinel of Liberty asked

John replied "My superior and other friends of mine are tracking HYDRA communications and have narrowed the signals down to three airships that are heavily guarded, Strucker is possibly hiding on one of the three" John said.

Natasha nodded and said "Your team shows a great deal of promise, when can we make a try for Strucker's location?" she asked.

"My commander will soon let us know when she has pinpointed Strucker's location ma'am"

John replied and added "But for now we have to deal with some terrorists, so duck" he said before levelling his shotgun at Natasha, who ducked and John fired upon a HYDRA terrorist who had snuck up on them.

Natasha looked at John gratefully and said "Thanks" she said with a grateful smile, "Your welcome" John said before turning his attention to the rest of the HYDRA foot soldiers.

John looked up in the sky to where the three HYDRA airships and swore to himself that he would find Strucker and make him pay for coming to New York and harming innocent civilians.

_To be continued…_

Angry lil' elf: ok that's all I'm writing for now, but don't worry I am working on the next chapter of this fic, so do not worry my rabid readers, in the next chapter we'll see the UNSC and the Avengers find Strucker's location and penetrate his location in a blaze of gunfire and glory, so we may or may not see John kill Strucker but no promises but Strucker will get his due you can quote me on that.

Just checked the poll I have regarding pairings for John, Black Widow is now in the lead with X-23 coming second, Black Cat in third, Psylocke in fourth, She-Hulk coming fifth, Scarlet Witch and Storm tied for sixth, Ms Marvel and Kitty Pryde tied for seventh, Rachel Grey in eighth place, Domino, Amora the Enchantress and Wasp tied for ninth, the Stepford Cuckoos in tenth place, Tigra in eleventh, and Lionheart and Maria Hill tied for twelth place and finally Jubilee in last place.

Black Widow was what I originally intended for John but I wanted to get everyone's opinion on the matter and for awhile Laura Kinney/X-23 was pretty popular but keep in mind that some of the other girls have a couple of advantages over her, Black Widow for example knows how to use her looks to seduce men and She-Hulk is something of an extrovert and is more open than Laura and has experience when it comes to dating men.

Regarding Amora the Enchantress, I put her on the poll as a I think she has potential to be a mate for John as she is naturally attractive and seductive but there are those who see Amora as nothing more than a bad guy, whilst that is true she is not totally evil in a sense but rather her constant pursuit of Thor is more or less she wants what she can't have and she is just bitter over being rejected by Thor and is misguided in becoming a bad guy so in this fic and in future chapters, I could have John encounter Amora and reach out to her and convince her to get over Thor and move on with her life, Amora will see the sense in getting over Thor and become attracted to the Chief and become a good guy in order to gain his affection, naturally this won't sit well with the female heroes as Amora has more or less had less than noble intentions towards them, so expect to see a huge catfight over John and Johnson laughing his head off and trying to give John some pointers on how to court the ladies.

And for god's sake REVIEW!

Also if you'll note Freedom Guard is working on a Halo/Fable crossover which was a challenge I set him and something that has been playing in the back of his mind and has decided to write to write a prologue to let the idea simmer for a while before continuing it as he does have other stories to update but he's drawn inspiration from my Hal/Fable story and Chindu's own Halo/Fable story, Freedom's pitched it to me and it sounds very good and promising.

Anyways, I'll try to update my other stories as much as I can, I'll try and update my Halo/Justice League story next and my Halo/Lord Of The Rings story as well.

And please review, rate and subscribe.

Cheers,  
Angry lil' elf.


	3. Chapter 3

The Avenging Spartan Chapter 3

Angry lil' elf; hey everyone I'm back from the grave! Well not literally back from the grave but it has been a long time since I updated this, so I apologise it took so long but I hope this makes up for it.

In this chapter we pick up where we left off, which was as I recall HYDRA attacking New York city and the Chief and co. teamed up with the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four and SHIELD in stopping HYDRA and I may have Chief, Arbiter & Johnson kill off Strucker, but we'll see how we go. I'll be bringing in some Marvel mercenaries and villains like Baron Zemo for example, "What about me? Don't I get a say whether I get to be introduced or not?" asks the Regenerating Degenerate **Yeah, don't forget about us**, GUYS! Seriously I'm trying to do an intro here. _Oh please, you weren't even thinking of putting us in until five chapters later and you've been doing nothing but look at that YouTube video of that Ms Marvel cosplayer_. No that's been you three using my internet, "What?! She's hot!" True, very true but if you keep going on like this I won't put you in this chapter at all!

Sorry that was Wade and his inner voices, they've not been behaving and if they keep going on like this I'll make bad things happen to them.

Now for some of the fan-mail;

Just a Question: hmm… not sure I'd be able to pull off such an idea, no offence I just don't think it's in my ability to do such a crossover, but we'll see how we go alright? No promises though.

Mandalore Requiem: I agree with what you said about X-23 and John being together in a platonic sense and besides I was considering kicking her off the poll which btw has been closed as it has gotten enough votes for me to make a decision. Hmmm… Carol would definitely have a chance with John, her being ex-military and all and being a strong womanly character and Storm would also have a chance with John as well so when we reach the part where John and co. reveal themselves to the Marvel crew I'll go through the girls one at a time so that they will all have their turn with John.

Also If you'll note I have closed the Halo/Marvel poll and did some subsequent polls for some of my other stories like my Devil May Cry/Justice League story and now I've taken on a challenge set by Harbinger of Kaos, it's a Final Fantasy VII/Justice League story starring Vincent Valentine, where the last of Vincent's friends has passed away from old age and being immortal or rather eternally youthful, Vincent wanders the world in solitude and loneliness and is somehow transported to the DCAU Justice League universe where he aids and helps found the Justice League, and for pairings I've set up a poll for Vincent, you can vote up to seven girls on the poll, so please have a vote and put your opinion down in your review of what you think of this potential idea.

Now we begin;

Strucker was observing the work of his minions in New York from his established command centre in one of the HYDRA air ships hovering above the city, Viper was standing alongside, ready to come to attention at a moment's notice and carry out her superior's orders.

Strucker took a moment to observe the Spartan and his other comrades through the computer terminals; the Spartan and his cohorts had brought in some extra muscle, namely the Avengers, SHIELD, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, this could prove problematic for HYDRA as Strucker knew that the Avengers, SHIELD, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men had proven to be tough foes and had beaten HYDRA more than once, but as the old saying goes with HYDRA, 'cut off one head, two more take its place' it was this saying that gave Strucker some measure of comfort over the years besides the fact that he was still arrogant and foolish enough to continue his cause of world domination.

But the presence of the Avengers, SHIELD, Fantastic Four and X-Men presented the opportunity to take them all out at once, an opportunity to kill five birds with one stone, Strucker gave a cruel smile and barked out an order.

On the Dawn in space

Miranda, Cortana and Courage were observing communications on all sides, so far there was no sign of Strucker.

"Commander Keyes, I believe I have intercepted an order from one of the HYDRA air ships, would you like to hear it?" Courage asked, "Send it through Courage" Miranda said.

The order said _"Viper! Concentrate our forces on the Spartan and his cohorts and wipe out the Avengers and those other meddlesome fools!" "At once Supreme Hydra!"_

"Run a voice match on the recording we need to be sure that it's Strucker, if it's him, then run a triangulation on the source and find out where Strucker is hiding" Miranda said with military precision, "At once Commander" Courage replied and began to run a match on the recording.

"Cortana, contact Chief, he needs to know that Strucker has ordered his forces are now going to concentrate on him, Johnson and Thel" Miranda said "Already on it Commander" Cortana replied.

In the New York docks and beach

John was using his energy swords on unfortunate HYDRA foot soldiers, the plasma blades causing grievous deaths and injuries amongst the HYDRA terrorists when he was contacted by Cortana.

"_Chief, we've intercepted an order from HYDRA and we're triangulating its whereabouts so we can find Strucker, how are things on your end?"_ Cortana asked, "All things considered, pretty good, what was the order from HYDRA?" John asked as he sliced a HYDRA soldier's head off from his neck.

"_Strucker has ordered his forces to start concentrating on you, Johnson and Arbiter, we're triangulating the source of his signal and we've narrowed it down to the three HYDRA airships above the city"_ Cortana replied, "Understood, keep me posted, Sierra-117 out"

John said as he switched to his assault rifle and began firing upon HYDRA soldiers.

Jen took a moment to observe the Spartan in combat as she was finishing throwing debris against HYDRA bogies; there was something that she couldn't quite put her finger on the Spartan, like she had met him before or something like it, but that thought was placed aside as another HYDRA terrorist fired upon her.

Natasha fired her pistols at the almost endless hordes of HYDRA foot soldiers "What does it take for you bastards to give up!?" she shouted as she loaded fresh clips into her guns, their response was a salvo of gun fire, Steve managed to get to Nat in time to shield her from the bullets, the Spartan stepped in and tossed a glowing blue ball of energy that stuck to one of the terrorists, the terrorist in question tried to unstick the glowing blue ball only for the ball to explode in a kaleidoscope of blue energy.

Nat asked the Spartan dumbfounded "What the hell was that thing?" she asked, the Spartan replied over his shoulder "Type-1 anti-personnel grenade also called the plasma grenade, when primed and thrown it sticks to most of its intended targets and flash vaporises and incinerates flesh, blood, armour and bone to unrecognisable states but it also proves useful against vehicles and machine as it can damage them to a degree" he said matter-of-factly.

Steve asked "Another part of your weapons technology?"

"Not quite it's alien technology but upgraded for my comrades and I" the Spartan said simply as he aimed his assault rifle at a HYDRA bogie who was slowly dying of burns, the Spartan ended the terrorist's misery by shooting him in the head.

"Alien technology? I thought you were human?" Jen asked as she tossed a HYDRA terrorist aside, "I didn't say that, I am human, where I come from we fought a cabal of races that used such technology" the Spartan replied.

"Care to elaborate?" Natasha asked, making sure her recorder was on, so the information could be studied later, "Later when this is over Agent Romanoff, I will have to discuss with my team if we are to share our information with you all" the Spartan answered as he fired that strange rifle at more terrorists.

Nat fumed silently again at her second attempt of interrogating the Spartan but there was a silver lining, the Spartan implied that he would later tell everyone of his origins but Nat wasn't counting on the Spartan sharing the info that early just yet, right now a war was going on and there were lives at stake so the SHIELD agent got back into the fight.

Meanwhile…

Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson was having the time of his life using the Scorpion tank on the HYDRA assault vehicles, he was practically laughing his head off like a stark raving maniac.

"_C'mon you sorry excuses for mythological monsters! Is that all you got!?"_ the sergeant bellowed through the speakers as he fired another HE round at the HYDRA walkers, the superior tank rounds shredding through the current time period's metal hulls of the HYDRA walkers.

Pym was in giant form wrestling a walker to the ground, keeping his head out of the walker's main weapon which was high velocity cannon when the walker he was wrestling was shot in its head so to speak by the Scorpion.

"Thanks!" Pym shouted to the Scorpion tank which was manoeuvring the streets _"Anytime, greenhorn"_ the sergeant's voice sounded out _"Keep movin'!"_ the sergeant's voice bellowed as he was followed by Pym, Clint, Barbara and the National Guard unit.

Above New York in the sky…

Carol was firing energy beams from her hands keeping up with Thor, Tony, the Arbiter and other flying heroes fighting HYDRA fighter planes.

Carol took a moment to observe the Arbiter's vehicle, it was unlike any other alien vehicle she had seen from her adventures both on Earth and around the galaxy during her stint with the Starjammers. Carol made sure to keep her video recorder on the Arbiter's vehicle, Carol then flew alongside Tony and said "So Tony, what do you think of the Spartan and his friends' tech?" she asked as she flew alongside him.

Tony replied while firing his unibeam at a HYDRA troop transport "Not sure, all of it looks pretty advanced, some of it looks vaguely earth based but then there's the Arbiter's vehicle, it's definitely alien make and from what I scanned of it, it's using a hybrid fusion-plasma battery engine, something that's never been done before by human scientists or even me and Reed for that matter, so whatever secrets they're hiding, I wanna know" Tony said as he fired a repulsor blast at a HYDRA fighter.

Carol gave a slight smirk and said "Sounds to me like your jealous of the Spartan's toys" she said firing a blast of energy at a squadron of HDRA planes "What gave you that idea?" Tony asked indignantly.

Carol smirked again and she said "You, Reed and the other eggheads have been going on & on about the Spartan's tech ever since he appeared, that's what makes you sound jealous" she smirked, "You make it sound like I wanna highjack it or something" Tony retorted as he dodged a missile, "Maybe, but if you ask nicely, the Spartan might lend you his armour for a while" Carol grinned as she dodged a missile aimed at her.

"Haha very funny"

Back on the Dawn

"Commander Keyes, I believe I have the location of the one designated Supreme Hydra AKA Baron Von Strucker" Courage said.

"Can you tell me his exact location?" Miranda asked, "I can, he is in the middle HYDRA airship, observing the conflict below, with him is the one designated Madame Hydra AKA Viper" Courage replied "Shall I inform the Reclaimer of Strucker's location?" Courage asked.

Miranda nodded and said "Inform the Master Chief, Johnson and the Arbiter of this at once Courage, we need to end this conflict now!" she barked with military precision "At once Commander"

On the streets of New York City

The fight with HYDRA foot soldiers had moved to the streets of New York, where the terrorists were firing upon civilians who were sheltering in the buildings.

John was doing his best to take out any and all of the HYDRA foot soldiers from entering the buildings and using the civilians as hostages, he was finishing off a squadron of HYDRA foot soldiers when he received an incoming signal.

"_Reclaimer, we have found the location of Strucker, he is located in the middle HYDRA airship flying above the city, the Commander has ordered you, the sergeant and the Arbiter to capture Strucker by force and make him surrender by any means necessary"_ Courage's voice said over the comm link.

"Understood, inform Johnson and Thel of this intel, then I'll inform General Fury of this as well, 117 out" John replied as he fired upon a terrorist sneaking up on him.

In the Helicarrier control room

"Sir an incoming signal, it's not hostile, orders?" a SHIELD intelligence officer asked, Fury narrowed his one good eye and said "Let it in, it's probably the Spartan wanting to get our attention" he said, "Yes sir"

"_General Fury, we have found the location of Baron Von Strucker, he is hiding in the middle airship flying above the city"_ the Spartan's voice sounded out of the speakers, "Well good work Spartan, what do you plan to do now?" Fury asked.

"_Myself, the Arbiter and the Sergeant will board the vessel and force Strucker to surrender, by any means necessary"_ the Spartan's voice replied "Understood I'll have some of the Avengers go with you in case you need back up, how do you plan on getting inside Strucker's ship?" Fury asked.

"_We'll be using one of our own ships to board Strucker's location, send in the Avengers you want to go with me and my crew and we'll go from there, sir"_

"Understood, Spartan, General Fury out" Fury said then turned to one of his subordinates, "Contact Ms Marvel, She-Hulk, Romanoff, Rogers and Wolverine about this, we'll have them go with the Spartan's boarding party, get to it!" Fury barked as his subordinates carried out the General's orders.

Carol was contacted by SHIELD officers to go to the Spartan's location and await orders from the Spartan, Natasha, Jen, Steve and Logan were informed of the same thing and awaited orders from the Spartan.

Carol flew to the Spartan's location, "Spartan, I'm under orders from Fury to join your boarding party when do we leave?" she asked as she touched down on the ground beside the group, "In a moment, the sergeant is having a bit too much fun with HYDRA's assault vehicles and the Arbiter will remain up in the air to provide us cover fire then he'll join us after we board Strucker's vessel" the Spartan said.

Soon the Scorpion tank trundled up to the Spartan and the sergeant stepped out "Alright Chief I'm here, when do we do this thing?" the sergeant asked, "Calling in the Pelican now, as soon as we get the Scorpion off the battlefield, the Arbiter is going to remain up in the air to provide us with cover" the Spartan replied.

Soon the Scorpion glowed a bright blue colour and it disappeared from view, leaving the Avengers and the X-man looking around to see where it had gone.

"Hey, where did that monster of a tank go?" Carol asked as she looked around to see where the tank had disappeared to, "To our base of operations, sorry but that's all I'll be telling you for now, right now we a mission to do, so let's get to it" the Spartan said before pulling out a strange tablet and pressed a few buttons.

A whooshing roar was heard and the plane that had brought the Spartan and his crew in landed in front of the group and the back door hatch opened, the Spartan stepped inside and looked to the others and asked "Are you coming?"

Carol stepped into the ship, she almost slipped on the lip of the metal floor but the Spartan's gloved hand shot out to catch her hand and he helped her into the ship, Carol smiled a bit at that polite gesture and strapped herself into one of the seats.

"Hey Spartan what kind of vehicle is this?" Jen asked curious as to what vehicle it was.

"Drop ship D77-Troop Carrier also called the Pelican, used to rapidly transport squadrons of soldiers to and from battlefields and outfitted with a chin mounted auto cannon and two ANVIL-II ASM pods"

The Spartan said taking the pilot seat, "What are ANVIL-II ASM pods?" Steve asked, the sergeant answered this time.

"ANVIL-II Air to Surface Missiles, do you wanna keep playing twenty questions? Or are we gonna kick some neo-Nazi ass?" the sergeant asked, Steve offered an apology and strapped himself in.

"Here we go" the Spartan said and the Pelican airship soon took off into the skies to where HYDRA airships were flying above the city.

"Arbiter, what's your status?" John asked over the intercom, _"Demon, all of HYDRA's forces are converging around the main HYDRA airship, I think they realise that we know Strucker is there"_ Thel's voice replied over the sounds of aerial battle.

"Understood, keep them occupied, we'll see what we can do from our end" John said as he severed the comm link.

"Here we go people! And hold on to your lunch! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" the sergeant said almost laughing maniacally, this certainly made the heroes feel a little uneasy as they felt the turbulence as the Pelican hurtled through the air towards the HYDRA airships.

HYDRA fighter planes noticed the Pelican flying up towards the HYDRA airbases and began to fire upon the strange aircraft, but thanks to Unyielding Courage's upgrades, the Pelican's hull was made of Forerunner alloys and as an added bonus the Pelican was given a layer of energy shielding, fighter plane machine gun rounds bounced off the energy shielding of the Pelican, John took a moment to observe the shield reading, thankfully only a sliver went down and John decided to retaliate by using the chin mounted machine gun of the Pelican.

The superior rounds tore through the inferior metal hulls of the HYDRA fighter planes making them explode as the rounds tore through them.

Weaving through the exploding vehicles, the Pelican flew its way towards the middle HYDRA airship where Strucker was supposedly hiding, more of the HYDRA fighter planes began firing upon the Pelican, but the Arbiter's Banshee intercepted them and rained down a torrent of white hot plasma, making the explode.

Reaching the hangar bay where the HYDRA planes were coming from, John readied some missiles to fire upon the hangar bay, with the press of a button Anvil missiles were launched from the Pelican and entered the hangar bay, exploding and destroying both HYDRA airplanes and foot soldiers and technicians.

Manoeuvring the Pelican into the near totalled hangar bay, John landed the Pelican and opened the back hatch door of the aircraft and said to the heroes on board "Last stop, everybody out" he said, the heroes unstrapped themselves from their seats and got out, ready to fight their way to Strucker.

Soon the Arbiter's vehicle landed in the hangar bay and the Arbiter exited the alien vehicle and stood alongside the heroes, the sergeant and the Spartan stepped out of the Pelican which closed its hatch and locked itself down.

Steve then asked the Spartan "What now Spartan?"

Steve asked as he looked towards the armoured man, the Spartan looked at Steve and replied "Now we go after Strucker and force him to surrender, by any means necessary" he said and the sergeant added "And kill anything that gets in our way" Logan gave a smirk and said "Good plan, I like this guy already" he said.

"Arbiter, can you stay here and make sure HYDRA doesn't get their hands on the Pelican and the Banshee?" John asked, the tall Sangheilian looked at John and replied "Very well, I'll stay here and make sure these scum do not attempt anything with our vehicles" Thel said and readied his plasma repeater, Steve offered to stay behind with the Arbiter and make sure someone else was going to keep any HYDRA foot soldiers in check.

"Alright, let's move!" John ordered and took off down a corridor, thanks to Cortana, John had a digital map displayed on his MOLNIRs HUD, Johnson and the heroes followed in close pursuit.

Obviously Strucker must have twigged that the Spartan was on board and ordered sectors of the ship to be locked, confident that the Spartan wouldn't get past the blast doors and sent loyal HYDRA foot soldiers to intercept the Spartan.

John was in his element, using his shotgun to punch through body armour with ease and causing grievous injuries, Johnson was his battle rifle firing accurately at HYDRA bogies, mainly going for headshots.

Carol used her energy beams to blast back HYDRA soldiers, Natasha used her close combat and her wrist blasters to take out said soldiers, Jen used her vast strength and combat experience to get in close with the terrorists and knock them out, Logan pretty much had the time of his life and used his full knowledge of martial arts and his deadly claws and healing factor to be able to get in close to the HYDRA bogies and unleashed his fury on them.

Soon coming up to the main control room, where Strucker was hiding but in the way was a blast door consisting of a foot thick of reinforced steel and a complicated computer lock on it.

Logan was the first to say anything "Fucking HYDRA! What is it with them and blast doors?!" he swore profusely, exclaiming profanities at HYDRA and their mothers.

Strucker's voice sounded out _"Spartan, I was wondering how you managed to get here, such devastation you caused along the way and you've cost me quite a few of my foot soldiers"_ Strucker's Prussian voice through the speakers _"But now you've come all this way to a dead end, why not give yourself up and share what technologies you and your cohorts have and I will spare you all"_ Strucker added.

John replied coldly "No Strucker, I fought men like you before, and they've always said the same thing, offering chances of surrender only to stab people in the back when they're turned, so no deal"

Strucker's voice gave an amused chuckle and said_ "Sadly you have no choice, my men will soon be coming to surround you and capture you all, and I'll just take your armour by force and what secrets it has to offer"_

John's voice could be heard with a small smile, "There's always a choice" he said and brought out his gravity hammer, applied the power setting and swung at the door hard; the blast door shook as the warped gravity hit, making a large sizable dent in it, John hit the door again, making the door buckle under the force of the hammer, another couple of blows made the blast door fly off its hinges revealing a cadre of HYDRA foot soldiers, Viper and the Supreme Hydra himself.

Strucker's reaction was an amused smile and he remarked "Very interesting weapon you have there, Spartan, maybe I'll take it for my own once I pry it from your dead hands"

John placed the hammer on his back and pulled out his assault rifle and said to Strucker "I'd suggest you surrender right now Strucker" he said, Strucker's face fell a little and he said almost forlornly "I suppose the honourable thing to do would be to admit defeat" he said, but then he smirked cruelly and added "But I'm not an honourable man, Viper, bring in our insurance!"

Viper gave a cruel smile and said "With pleasure sir!" with that said, the green haired woman pressed a button on a console and a section of the wall opened up and revealed three individuals; a man wearing a reddish pink mask covering his entire head with white lenses and body suit, John identified him as Baron Helmut J. Zemo, the son of the original Baron Zemo and man with a large scythe blade where his right hand should be, Grim Reaper and the last was a large robotic man with a glass dome over the helmet, Crimson Dynamo.

Strucker barked at the individuals "Zemo, Reaper, Dynamo destroy these meddlesome fools! But keep the Spartan's armour intact as much as you can" he ordered, "Sir!" they responded and moved to attack.

John fired at Zemo first, Zemo dodged the rounds, Dynamo fired off some missiles at the heroes and Reaper charged the group, swinging his deadly scythe blade hand, the heroes dodged the missiles as the missiles detonated on impact leaving destruction on the spot where John and the heroes were.

John rolled to the side and fired again this time aiming at Reaper as he knew from Reaper's files that the scythe Reaper wielded had the power to induce comas on its victims, while John was sure that his armour's shields could stop the force of the blade, he didn't want to take chances.

The rounds tore through the air and hit the abdomen of Eric Williams, injuring him, Johnson then fired his battle rifle at the base of Eric's scythe, the rounds breaking off the blade, Jen took this opportunity to rush forward and deal out a punch that would leave Eric unconscious for most of the day.

Zemo charged in with an adamantium fencing sword, slicing at Jen, if Carol hadn't intervened, Jen would have had her lung pierced, Carol blasted at Zemo with a low level energy blast, flinging him onto his back smashing a computer console.

Logan had unsheathed his claws and was dodging the heavy machine gunfire from Dynamo, trying to get in close to deal out some pain. John pulled out an energy sword, activated it and charged forward to Dynamo's side, the white hot plasma blade sheared through Dynamo's missile pod, leaving white hot glowing metal in its wake.

Logan took this opportunity to slice through Dynamo's glass dome covered head and as soon as the glass dome was sliced open and Dynamo's head was exposed, Logan slammed his elbow hard into Anton Vanko's helmeted head, the force of Logan's blow leaving a large dent in the metal knocking Dynamo out.

Soon Zemo was all that was left, John and Johnson proceeded to literally beat the living snot out of the neo-Nazi, breaking bones or dislocating them.

After all of Strucker's insurance was gone, John turned to Strucker and said "Are we gonna do this the hard way? Please say yes."

Strucker's face contorted in rage and brought out his Satan Claw hand and charged forward towards John only to meet the butt of John's assault rifle in his face, breaking his jaw and nose and a couple of his teeth flew out mixing with blood, the resulting force of John's blow knocked Strucker out cold.

All that was left was Viper who wisely held her hands up in surrender and was soon in handcuffs, soon after all of HYDRA's forces either surrendered or fled the scene.

What soon followed was a media circus, with the press clamouring for an interview with the UNSC, John, Avery and Thel kept out of it, stating that they had clean-up to do and to make sure none of HYDRA's forces try attacking New York again, the media was a bit unhappy about that and were still clamouring for an interview with the UNSC heroes.

John disliked being in the spotlight, preferring to work in the shadows.

Nick Fury was given all the footage that the Avengers had managed to get of the UNSC heroes and looked over them again and again trying to find some clue as the UNSC's identities.

Nick had hoped that the Spartan made good of his claim of revealing who they were soon and to see if he could get the guy on SHIELD for obvious reasons.

Soon a private message hit Nick's computer stating that the UNSC was ready to talk and they requested that they bring the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and Spiderman to the Helicarrier base so that the UNSC would bring them all to the UNSC base of operations.

_To be continued…_


End file.
